Description

The monument comprises the remains of a cursus of prehistoric date, represented by cropmarks visible on oblique aerial photographs.

The monument lies across several fields of arable farmland at around 40m OD. It comprises a series of pit alignments forming an elongated rectangular enclosure or cursus approximately 570m long by 30m wide, aligned ESE-WNW. Some 100m from its WNW end is a pit-defined subdivision while another possible subdivision is present a further 100m or so to the E of the first.

The pits which form the cursus are most clearly visible at the ESE end, where they can be seen to be evenly spaces and of regular size. The monument belongs to a class of large ceremonial enclosures of the Neolithic period which are found widely throughout Britain but relatively rarely in Scotland.

The area to be scheduled encompasses the visible remains and an area around them in which traces of associated activity may be expected to survive. It is sub-rectangular with maximum dimensions of 600m WNW-ESE by 80m as marked in red on the accompanying map. It excludes the modern roads and dismantled railway which overlie parts of the monument.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

The monument is of national importance because of its potential to contribute to our understanding of prehistoric ritual practices. It is a rare example of a major class of Neolithic monument.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

RCAHMS records the monument as NO 55 SE 18.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland