Fetternear Palace Fetternear Bishop ' s Palace is an archaeological site , part of which is incorporated into the now ruined towerhouse and mansion of Fetternear House , near Kemnay , Aberdeenshire , northeastern Scotland . It was one of the palaces ( or residences ) of the medieval bishops of Aberdeen . Fetternear parish and the location of the bishop ’ s Palace . The bishop ’ s palace at Fetternear was situated in what was , in medieval times , a separate parish . At the end of the sixteenth century the parish was incorporated , along with Logie Durno , into that of Chapel of Garioch . Fetternear ’ s parish kirk was dedicated to St Ninian . Situated on the north bank of the River Don , it was about a mile from the bishop ’ s palace . The location of the bishop ’ s palace is on sloping ground , below which runs the Marshes Burn near its confluence with the River Don opposite Kemnay . Placename scholars consider the Fetter - element of the name to be derived from the Gaelic term fetter ( or fother , fodder , fether ) . Toponyms of this type typically refer to the situation of the place on shelving or terraced land ; Fetternear shares this characteristic in its location above the Marshes Burn . Scholars do not agree on the meaning of the – near element of the placename . Fetternear in documentary sources . The lands of Fetternear belonged to the church from at least the twelfth century . However there are few documentary references to the bishop ’ s palace , although the name of Fetternear ( in various spellings ) does occur in medieval charters . In 1157 Pope Adrian IV confirmed that the manor and lands belonged to Edward , Bishop of Aberdeen . Alexander II of Scotland designated in 1242 the lands of Fetternear and Brass ( now Birse ) as free forests or , in other words , hunting reserves . He granted them to Ralph , Bishop of Aberdeen . A tradition reported in 1522 by Hector Boece , the first Principal of the University of Aberdeen , concerned Bishop Alexander de Kininmund I , who is reported to have spent Easter at Old Aberdeen , summer at Fetternear , autumn at Old Rayne and Christmas at Mortlach . According to Boece , Bishop Alexander undertook these pastoral visitations “ to educate his flock and correct their errors ” and , in order to fulfil these duties , he began to construct residences in each of the four named places . Boece said that Bishop Alexander completed the palaces at Aberdeen and Fetternear despite the distractions caused by the First War of Independence against England . Given that the earlier charters mention the existence of a manor at Fetternear , Bishop Alexander must have been responsible for rebuilding the palace . Scottish Episcopal Palaces Project – Fetternear . In an architectural history of the post - medieval mansion at Fetternear , H . Gordon Slade mentioned that very little of the bishop ’ s palace remained visible above ground . He thought that the “ foundations or lower walls ” were perhaps of a tower built in an “ L ” shaped plan . Slade ’ s article concentrates mainly on the post - Reformation architectural history of Fetternear House and its associations with the Leslies of Balquhain , the family who obtained the estate after the Reformation . Given that very little scholarly attention had been given to the medieval bishop ’ s palace of Fetternear , the late Nicholas Bogdan , of the Scottish Castles Survey , and Penelope ( Penny ) Dransart , of the University of Wales Lampeter , founded the Scottish Episcopal Palaces Project ( SEPP ) in 1995 . The aim of the project is to investigate the architectural development of bishops ’ palaces as residences that were designed to enable the bishops to conduct pastoral visitations throughout the diocese . To date the project has concentrated on the site of Fetternear in the medieval diocese of Aberdeen and on Kinneddar in the diocese of Moray . The excavations at Fetternear done by SEPP have established that the visible remains of the foundations observed by Slade were heavily remodelled in the late nineteenth century , by one of the Leslie lairds of Balquhain and Fetternear . This remodelling was done after an excavation of those parts of the bishop ’ s palace that lay under the lawns in front of the mansion . William Kelly , the Aberdeen architect , reported having seen moulded stonework from the excavation in the first decade of the twentieth century , commenting on its fine quality . The work of SEPP has demonstrated that the medieval bishop ’ s palace was largely surrounded by a moat . In all probability the earliest palace was constructed from timber on the platform enclosed by the moat , from which the water flowed through a ditch leading to the Marshes Burn . The 2006 excavation uncovered evidence for an oak palisade on the inside of the moat , surrounding the buildings of the palace . The entrance to the palace from the southeast would have been over a timber trestle bridge , the sole plate of which was excavated in 2009 .