Description

The monument consists of the cropmark remains of a semi-circular ditched enclosure, which is located towards the NE end of Houdston Hill.

The enclosure is about 70m in overall diameter within a ditch 4m broad; the circuit is complete, but the NE area is under pasture and the enclosure is rarely visible here. The very slight traces of an inner enclosed area, perhaps a palisade, are visible on some aerial photographs. What appears to be the angled line of an old field boundary encloses the cropmark to the S, and may suggest that the

site was substantially extant in relatively recent times. Although now ploughed flat and visible only from the air, experience shows that such sites may contain important archaeological and structural evidence below the plough-soil.

The area to be scheduled measures 110m in diameter to include the enclosure and an area around in which associated remains may survive, as marked in red on the attached map.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

The monument is of national importance because it has the potential to provide information about the nature of prehistoric activity from a type of monument whose upstanding equivalent has not been recognised in this part of Scotland. The enclosure is probably a domestic site and may therefore contain the remains of timber round-houses and associated evidence for domestic and agricultural activities.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

RCAHMS records the monument as NX19NE 27.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland