The site of A Medieval Monastic Farm.
Just before you come to the grand Victorian buildings of present day Coupar Grange Farm, on the left hand side of the road, lie the remains of a monastic grange of Medieval date, represented by a series of cropmarks visible only on oblique aerial photographs.
The remains represent the original Coupar Grange, a large centralised farm formed to consolidate the land holdings of Coupar Angus Abbey following its establishment in the mid-12th century. The word grange comes through French graunge from Latin granica meaning a granary and the Cistercians, who founded Coupar Angus Abbey, were the first to own such granges.
The farm would have been worked by lay brethren, people who joined the Cistercian Order as workers, and would have supplied the subsistence needs of the abbey. The buildings would have included domestic accommodation, storage buildings, stables, kitchens and other specialised buildings.
