Scotland · Partial ruin
Fetternear Palace
Fetternear was the medieval bishop’s palace for the diocese of Aberdeen, located on sloping ground above the Marshes Burn near the River Don. The site later hosted a tower-house and a post-medieval mansion; today only partial masonry walls and the ruinous mansion façade remain and the medieval palace is primarily an archaeological site.
Its prime
1300
Today
Partial ruin
As it stood in 1300
What Fetternear Palace looked like in its prime.
Set on a slight terrace above the Marshes Burn, the palace occupies a raised, moat‑surrounded platform with an oak palisade; buildings are a compact group of stone ranges around a central yard. The largest stone structure is an L‑shaped tower-house of thick grey rubble walls; a masonry chapel sits a short distance to the south with surviving south and east walls; single‑storey stone service ranges (including the kitchen) occupy the south‑west corner. Roofs are timber, openings are narrow lancet and tall rectangular windows.
Its story
The story of Fetternear Palace.
Fetternear, near Kemnay in Aberdeenshire, was one of the palaces of the medieval bishops of Aberdeen, granted to Bishop Ralph. A tradition reported in 1522 by Hector Boece, first principal of the University of Aberdeen, has Bishop Alexander de Kininmund I keeping Easter at Old Aberdeen, summer at Fetternear, autumn at Old Rayne and Christmas at Mortlach.
After the Protestant Reformation of 1560 the estate passed to the Leslies of Balquhain, with whom the later tower-house and mansion of Fetternear House are associated. Today the medieval palace is primarily an archaeological site, only partial masonry walls and the ruinous mansion facade remain on sloping ground above the Marshes Burn near the River Don.
Step inside
7 places to explore in 1300.
The record describes 7 distinct spots at Fetternear Palace, including 4 interiors: central courtyard, chapel (south of the tower-house), kitchen area (south‑west corner) and more. Create your own photoreal reconstruction and explore every one, more scenes means more rooms, more angles, and more of the place to stand in.
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Clans who held Fetternear Palace.
The families that held Fetternear Palace for a decade or more across its history, follow a name to its clan.
The Leslies of Balquhain obtained the Fetternear estate after the Reformation of 1560.
