Boundary Stone

The boundary markers seen on the hillside, originate after a Court action was finally settled in 1859, dividing the Commonty of Bennachie between nine local landowners.

"Commonty" is land whose ownership is shared among more than one estate. Many people were allowed to take peat and turf from the commonty and to graze livestock there. As the individual boundaries of the landowners were not defined within the commonty, there was a widespread, but legally incorrect belief, that it was common land where anyone could build a house and farm the land. This belief led to the gradual development of the Bennachie Colony. However, the landowners saw this as an intrusion into their legal rights.