Description

The monument consists of the remains of a settlement of late prehistoric date, represented by a scooped enclosure bounded by a bank, situated on the end of a spur overloking the head of the Annan valley.

The settlement is bounded by a rampart up to 1.3m high internally, with what may have been an entrance gap on the W side. The N part of the interior appears to have been levelled by removing soil, and the whole interior has irregularities in its surface which suggest the foundations of buildings, although their plans are impossible to ascertain from surface inspection. The overall diameter of the settlement is about 48m.

The area to be scheduled is circular, 65m in diameter, bounded by a line 5m outside the outer foot of the rampart, as marked in red on the accompanying map.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

The monument is of national importance as a fine example of an apparently simple scooped settlement of late prehistoric date, and also as one of a group of settlements of slightly differing plan in a fairly restricted area. It has the potential, through excavation and analysis, to provide information about settlement organisation and economy, and, by comparison with other sites nearby, to provide information about the pattern and inter-relationship of settlements.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

RCAHMS records the monument as NT 01 SE 4.

References:

Christison D 1891a, 'A general view of the forts, camps, and motes of Dumfriesshire, with a detailed description of those in Upper Annandale, and an introduction to the study of Scottish motes', Proc Soc Antiq Scot 25, 230.

RCAHMS 1920, The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments and Constructions of Scotland. Seventh report with inventory of monuments and constructions in the county of Dumfries, Edinburgh, 174.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland