Red Moss is a
wetland bog
A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as a deposit of dead plant materials often mosses, typically sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main types of wetlands. Other names for bogs include mire, mosses, quagmire, and muskeg; a ...
in
Aberdeenshire
Aberdeenshire ( sco, Aiberdeenshire; gd, Siorrachd Obar Dheathain) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland.
It takes its name from the County of Aberdeen which has substantially differe ...
, Scotland, located at the northwestern edge of the
village of
Netherley. (Grid Reference NO 955 856) The moss is designated a national
Site of Special Scientific Interest
A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle of ...
by
Scottish Natural Heritage, due to its
biodiversity and undisturbed character. The elevation of Red Moss is 113 metres above mean sea level. The upland areas above Red Moss are characterised as agricultural and woodland parcels which are generally attractive and separated by ancient
drystone
Dry stone, sometimes called drystack or, in Scotland, drystane, is a building method by which structures are constructed from stones without any mortar to bind them together. Dry stone structures are stable because of their construction me ...
walls or
hedgerow
A hedge or hedgerow is a line of closely spaced shrubs and sometimes trees, planted and trained to form a barrier or to mark the boundary of an area, such as between neighbouring properties. Hedges that are used to separate a road from adjoini ...
s.
Hydrology and water quality
The outlet to Red Moss with respect to drainage is the
Crynoch Burn, which continues by the Lairhillock Inn and thence through
Maryculter and the
Oldman Wood. Feeding the Red Moss are the
headwaters of Crynoch Burn, along with smaller tributaries draining lands of the south and east.
The bog is clearly
acid
In computer science, ACID ( atomicity, consistency, isolation, durability) is a set of properties of database transactions intended to guarantee data validity despite errors, power failures, and other mishaps. In the context of databases, a sequ ...
ic, with
pH levels in the range of 5.68; moreover,
electrical conductivity
Electrical resistivity (also called specific electrical resistance or volume resistivity) is a fundamental property of a material that measures how strongly it resists electric current. A low resistivity indicates a material that readily allow ...
of the waters are low. Summer water temperatures are in the range of 17.5 to 18.0 degrees
Celsius
The degree Celsius is the unit of temperature on the Celsius scale (originally known as the centigrade scale outside Sweden), one of two temperature scales used in the International System of Units (SI), the other being the Kelvin scale. The ...
.
History
Roman legions marched by Netherley traversing the route from
Raedykes to
Normandykes as they sought higher ground evading the bogs of Red Moss and other low-lying mosses associated with the
Burn of Muchalls.
Elsick Mounth is one of the ancient routes crossing the
Grampian Mountains, lying west of Netherley.
Alexander Silver, a wealthy East India trader, built
Netherley House
Netherley House is a mansion built by Alexander Silver in the late 18th century in Netherley, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is situated near the northerly flowing drainage of Crynoch Burn (Groome, 1885). The home was sold to Horatio Ross by Jame ...
, a
mansion
A mansion is a large dwelling house. The word itself derives through Old French from the Latin word ''mansio'' "dwelling", an abstract noun derived from the verb ''manere'' "to dwell". The English word '' manse'' originally defined a property l ...
house in Netherley in the late 18th century; he and his son
George Silver
George Silver (ca. 1550s–1620s) was a gentleman of England during the late 16th and early 17th centuries, who is known for his writings on swordplay. He is thought to have been the eldest of four brothers (one of whom, Toby, was also a swordsm ...
were noted agricultural innovators of their era.
George Robertson, ''A general view of Kincardineshire or the Mearns'' (1810)
/ref>
See also
* Craggie Cat
* Muchalls Castle
* Netherley School
*Portlethen Moss
The Portlethen Moss is an acidic bog nature reserve located to the west of the town of Portlethen, Aberdeenshire in Scotland. Like other Bog, mosses, this wetland area supports a variety of plant and animal species, even though it has been subjec ...
Reference line notes
Environment of Kincardine and Deeside
Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Kincardine and Deeside
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