Description

The monument is a farmstead of the period before the agricultural improvements, some 200 to 500 years old, straddling the Shielknowe Burn. It comprises the remains of a long building, measuring c 39m in length and 4.5m in width between walls c 60cm thick, which are now reduced to their foundations. This building probably represents a row of cottages or cottages and byres. There is a platform immediately to the W of the N part of this structure which may mark the site of an earlier building.

The building lies within a large enclosure, measuring 106m by 84m, bounded by a bank c2m across and 50cm high, where best preserved. There are traces of other structures within the enclosure. The area to be scheduled measures a maximum of 200m E-W by 200m transversely, part of the W side being bounded by a fence (which is itself excluded from the scheduling).

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

The monument is of national importance as a well preserved farmstead of the period before the agricultural improvement, which has the potential to considerably enhance our understanding of settlement and agriculture in that period. It is of particular interest because of the unusual nature of the main building. Taken with the rather different farmstead 300m to the SW the monument is of particular importance because of its potential to increase our knowledge of the organisation and use of the pre-improvement landscape.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

RCAHMS records the monument as NT 82 NW 46.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland