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Reputed site of the ancient Palace of Birnie, the first residence of the Bishops of Moray, and possible site of prehistoric settlement. The Bishop's residence was afterwards removed to Kinneddar (NJ26NW0001), then Spynie (NJ26NW0004), and lastly Elgin (NJ26SW0080). There are now no visible traces above ground, but the foundations were said to have been cleared away in 1802 during land reclamation. It is said that some foundations of the Episcopal residence were dug up in the corner of a field called Castle Hill, although it is not recorded which corner, or how extensive the foundations were. On the 1st edition and the 2nd edition OS maps a large farmstead is also shown in the field (in the northwest corner) with the name of Castlehill. The maps show a U-shaped steading, three rectangular buildings and a large rectangular garden. Fieldwalking was undertaken across the field in 2011, under the guidance of Fraser Hunter, following its first ploughing for over 10 years. Although the place name has been linked to the bishop's palace, in the mid 19th century the Rev. George Gordon noted that the name had been transferred from another farm. This was confirmed by the sparsity of medieval material recovered by the fieldwalking, although the farmer reported that large stone slabs had been found when it had last been ploughed. Evidence of later prehistoric activity was found in the form of a few sherds of pottery suggesting a possible settlement site on this low rise. A watching brief and evaluation (NJ25NW0071) adjacent to Castlehill in 2014 found no archaeological features or artefacts.
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Historic Environment Records (HER) 
Moray
HER -
NJ25NW0003 - PALACE OF BIRNIE