A reduced burial mound near Fraserburgh is the last survivor of a wider cemetery of cairns. Memsie Cairn is a Bronze Age cairn, a stone-built burial mound, with finds suggesting use or attention continuing into the medieval period.
The surrounding cemetery once included three large cairns and many smaller ones. Earlier digging produced human bones, a cist (a stone-lined burial box), flint objects, an urn with calcined bones, skulls, and an iron short sword, while recent nearby excavation found postholes, a hearth or fire-pit, pottery, quartz, and flint.
What follows is drawn from published sources, with each claim labelled by how firmly it is established.
History
Memsie Cairn is the last remaining cairn of the Cairns of Memsie cemetery.
The burial cairn was constructed during the Bronze Age.
Finds from the site suggest use up into the medieval period.
Before 1780 one cairn was opened and human bones were found at the centre.
In 1790 a stone cist, flint dart-head, and block of flint were reported from one large cairn.
In 1827 finds donated to the National Museum of Antiquities included an urn with calcined bones, skulls, and an iron short sword.
A nearby 2022 excavation found postholes, a hearth or fire-pit, pottery, struck quartz, and flint.
Two of the large cairns have been destroyed, probably with robbed stone reused in field boundary walls.
Plan your visit
- Location
- 57.6483°N · 2.0409°W
- Access
- Open access
- Terrain
- Easy going
Opening & admission
The source pack does not provide reliable current admission details; verify before travelling.
- The cairn is managed by Historic Environment Scotland; check local access before travelling.
Nearby places
Fortified place · Medieval
Cairnbulg Castle
Aberdeenshire
It traces an unbroken Fraser connection from the fourteenth century through ruin and restoration back into family hands, a rare continuity among Ab…
Minor monument · Medieval
Market Cross, Saltoun Square, Fraserburgh
Aberdeenshire
Mercat cross with HES-listed pre-1800 evidence (1736).
- Easy path
Building or ruin · Medieval
Deer Abbey
Aberdeenshire
A rare surviving medieval Cistercian ruin in Buchan, carrying the name recorded in the margins of the celebrated Book of Deer.
Questions people ask
- What is Memsie Cairn?
- It is a Bronze Age burial cairn near Fraserburgh and the last remaining cairn of the Cairns of Memsie.
- What is a cist?
- A cist is a small stone-lined box or grave, often used for burials.
- What was found there?
- Reported finds include human bones, flint objects, an urn with calcined bones, skulls, and an iron short sword.
- What happened to the other cairns?
- Two large cairns were destroyed, and the pack suggests robbed stones were likely used in field boundary walls.
Sources
Explore more: Tomb or burial places · Prehistoric · Aberdeenshire
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