Description

The monument is a settlement dating from the period before the agricultural improvements of the 18th and 19th centuries. The original scheduling documents for this monument contained a discrepancy in the description of the area to be scheduled. The settlement lies along a ridge above the Dowlaw Burn at approximately 185m OD, and comprises the remains of eight rectangular buildings arranged in a roughly linear pattern.

This pattern differs from the two other types of farmstead which lie nearby, and it is unusual for such a concentration of building remains to be found together in this area. The area proposed for scheduling is irregular in shape, and measures a maximum of 150m NW-SE by 60m transversely, to include the buildings of the settlement and an area around them in which traces of contemporary activity may be expected to survive, as shown in red on the attached map. The scheduled area stops immediately adjacent to the modern field dyke on the north-eastern side of the monument.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

The monument is of national importance as an undisturbed example of pre-improvement settlement type rare in its locality. It has the potential, through survey and excavation, to enhance our knowledge of domestic and agricultural organisation during this period, particularly when considered in conjunction with the other pre-improvement settlements in the area.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

RCAHMS records the monument as NT 86 NE 31.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland