| Administrative History | Fetternear is situated near the River Don, northwest of Kemnay; Insch is a small village northwest of Inverurie.
Fetternear, an example of a moated site, was the summer palace of the medieval bishops of Aberdeen who had occupied the land from at least the 12th century. The Scottish Episcopal Palaces Project (SEPP) was established in 1995 with the aim of investigating the cultural history of Fetternear and in particular the western area of the site. Post-Reformation, the medieval site was modified by the Leslies of Balquhain and in the 19th century the family instigated an archaeological excavation of the area in front of the mansion.
[For further information see 'The Bishop's Palace, Fetternear 2005-2006', edited by P. Dransart and J. Trigg (2008)].
The Barony of Balquhain was created a burgh of barony by David II in 1340. It remained in the hands of the Leslie family from this time until 1919, when their estates were broken up, following the death of Colonel Charles Stephen Leslie in 1916. The Leslie family held lands, and maintained close connections with the ruling hierarchies, in Eastern Europe throughout this period, and following the Scottish Reformation of 1560, became one of the principal dissenting families in the North East of Scotland. The family seat, Balquhain Castle, Chapel of Garioch, Aberdeenshire, gave lodging to Queen Mary on the eve of the Battle of Corrachie in 1562, and was burned by the Duke of Cumberland in 1746. Their lands at Fetternear, Aberdeenshire, were leased to the Bishops of Aberdeen, who had held them in free alms of the Crown since the 12th century. |
| Custodial History | The maps were found in the rafters of a potting shed, by David Fyffe's father, Mr. L.R.K. Fyffe, of Sauchen, Aberdeenshire, c. 1988. |
| Copyright | Subject to the condition of the original, copies may be supplied for private research use only on receipt of a signed undertaking to comply with current copyright legislation. Permission to make any published use of material from the collection must be sought in advance from the University Archivist and, where appropriate, from the copyright owner. Where possible, assistance will be given in identifying copyright owners, but responsibility for ensuring copyright clearance rests with the user of the material. |