Description

The monument consists of the footings of a group of buildings on a promontory projecting into the Tay, above a Linn, some 850m south-west of Stobhall; there is traditionally said to have been a chapel of St Adamnan here.

The site is almost certainly a part of the chase and associated waste that was granted to Coupar Angus Abbey in free forest by William I at a date between 1173 and 1178. It was presumably exploited chiefly for the produce of the forest and the adjacent river, while later references indicate that there was an abbatial residence here. In the fifteenth century the estate was leased out to tenants, while reserving the use of the abbot's residence, which was said to consist of a hall, a chapel, a chamber, a kitchen, a bakehouse and a brewhouse.

It is believed that these buildings are now respresented by the heavily overgrown footings of five buildings irregularly arranged around a courtyard near the point of the promontory. The largest of the buildings, at the northernmost point, appears to have been divided into two parts, and may be the hall and chamber. It appears that a smaller building to its east may have been the kitchen, while the second largest building, on the south side of the group could have been the chapel, since its long axis lies E/W.

The area to be scheduled is irregular on plan, with extreme measurements of 60m from east to west and 66m from north to south, as marked in red on the attached map. The top 200mm of the track wihtin the scheduled area, and the fishing bothy are excluded from the scheduling.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

The monument is of national importance as a rare example of a Cistercian monastic estate that appears to have been run essentially as a grange, and at which there is unique evidence for the arrangement of the buildings. The archaeological potential of this site is particularly high for what it is likely to be able to tell us about the Cistercian grange economy and of the character and arrangement of the buildings on such a site.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

The site is recorded by RCAHMS as NO13SW 10.

References:

Rogers C 1879-80, RENTAL BOOK OF THE CISTERCIAN ABBEY OF CUPAR-ANGUS, Edinburgh (Grampian Club), 1879-80, Vol. 1.

Barrow, G W S, REGESTA REGUM SCOTTORUM II, THE ACTS OF WILLIAM I, Edinburgh, 1971, 224.

RCAHMS 1994, SOUTH-EAST PERTH, AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL LANDSCAPE, Edinburgh, The Stationery Office, 110-111.

SUAT Ltd, A GAZETTEER OF MONASTIC GRANGES IN SCOTLAND, 2002.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland