Description

The monument is a well preserved settlement, including at least eight circular house stances measuring between 6m and 9m in diameter, and its associated field system (comprising numerous banks and clearance cairns). There is also a burial cairn measuring 10m in diameter. The area to be scheduled measures a maximum of 850m ESE-WNW and 410m transversely, to include the settlement, the field system, the burial cairn and an area around and between the separate visible elements in which traces of the construction and use of the monument will survive. Modern structures in the area, including the enclosed garden of Bellmuir Cottage, tracks and modern fences and walls are specifically excluded from the scheduling.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

The monument is of national importance as a settlement and field system of the Bronze Age, some 3000 years old, which has the potential to enhance considerable our understanding of prehistoric settlement and agriculture. It is of particular importance because it is very well preserved (the complex field system especially) and because so little settlement of this antiquity survives in lowland areas, undamaged by more recent agriculture. Further, the burial mounds within this monument and to the NE offer an opportunity, to study the relationship between life and death in the Bronze Age. This small section of the prehistoric landscape, preserved by chance on this area of unimproved ground, is of considerable importance and offers future scholarship major opportunities to elucidate the nature and development of land use in prehistory.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

RCAHMS records the site as NJ 83 NE 33.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland