Description

The monument comprises the remains of a ring ditch house of prehistoric date represented by cropmarks visible on oblique aerial photographs. The site lies on the lower slopes of Barney Hill at around 130m OD in arable farmland approximately 1km N of Haddington.

The ring ditch is formed by a single annular ditch some 2m wide with an overall diameter of approximately 10-12m. Cropmarks of this sort generally represent the remains of timber roundhouses associated with agricultural settlement of the later prehistoric period and are often associated with further structural elements too slight to be represented by cropmarks.

The monument forms part of a wider landscape of later prehistoric enclosed settlements and field systems centred on the Garleton Hills. As an unenclosed ring ditch house it is an unusual element of this settlement pattern and thus potentially distinct from other known elements of the settlement landscape in chronology and / or function.

The area to be scheduled encompasses the visible features and an area around them in which traces of associated activity may be expected to survive. It is circular with a diameter of 90m as marked in red on the accompanying map.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

The monument is of national importance because of its potential to add to our understanding of prehistoric house construction and of the organisation of settlement and economic activities. The significance of the monument is greatly enhanced by its association with the wider landscape of prehistoric settlement centred around the Garleton Hills.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

RCAHMS records the monument as NT 57 NW 67.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland