Fetternear's parish kirk was dedicated to St Ninian and was on the north bank of the River Don about a mile from the bishop's palace.

[5] 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 Scottish Independence against England.

[7] 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 Protestant Reformation in 1560.

[8][9] The aim of the project is to investigate the architectural development of Scottish bishops’ palaces as residences that were designed to facilitate pastoral visitations throughout the diocese.

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.

[14] 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.

Since then, the project has entered the post-excavation phase, and is conducting research into the documentary sources relating to the history of the site and a detailed study of the finds.