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Latitude: 55.2576 / 55°15'27"N
Longitude: -4.8489 / 4°50'56"W
OS Eastings: 219047
OS Northings: 599641
OS Grid: NX190996
Mapcode National: GBR 40.BZRP
Mapcode Global: WH2QR.H36R
Entry Name: Gallow Hill,settlement and ring-ditch 320m N of Girvan Mains
Scheduled Date: 15 December 1992
Source: Historic Environment Scotland
Source ID: SM5501
Schedule Class: Cultural
Category: Prehistoric domestic and defensive: settlement; Prehistoric ritual and funerary: barrow
Location: Girvan
County: South Ayrshire
Electoral Ward: Girvan and South Carrick
Traditional County: Ayrshire
The monument consists of the cropmark remains of a settlement and ring-ditch on Gallow Hill, to the N of Girvan Mains farmsteading. There are no surface traces of either site, which have been revealed by aerial photography.
The settlement is situated on the rounded summit of Gallow Hill. D- shaped on plan, it measures about 58m by 45m within a ditch up to 6m broad, and there are opposed entrances on the NE and SW respectively. The circuit may originally have been complete. There are slight indications of a narrow ditch, possibly a palisade trench, which is roughly concentric with the NE arc of ditch. The ring-ditch enclosure is circular on plan and measures about 14m in diameter within a ditch about 1-2m wide.
It may be the remains of a prehistoric (Bronze Age) burial.
The area to be scheduled consists of two discrete portions: the S portion (the settlement) is subcircular on plan and measures 115m from NE to SW by 100m transversely; the N portion (ring-ditch) measures 55m in diameter. These areas include the cropmarks and an area around in which associated remains may survive, as marked in red on the attached map.
Source: Historic Environment Scotland
The monument is of national importance because the ring-ditch (probably the remains of a prehistoric burial barrow) and settlement have the potential to provide information about ritual and organisational aspects of Bronze Age and Iron Age society. The settlement is particularly important as few coastal forts and settlements survive in their upstanding form in this area of Scotland. Traces of internal features, such as timber houses, may survive within the interior of the settlement.
Source: Historic Environment Scotland
Bibliography
No Bibliography entries for this designation
Source: Historic Environment Scotland
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