Description

The monument is a scooped settlement of the Iron Age, over parts of which lie the remains of a house of the period before the agricultural improvements. The monument comprises a roughly oval enclosure with rounded angles measuring internally c 68m NW-SE by 50m transversely, defined by a boulder-faced rubble wall, which survives in a ruinous condition.

The interior falls a vertical distance of c.15m and consists of a series of terraces excavated from the hillside. There are faint traces of houses in the interior. In the NW corner there are the remains of a pre-improvement rectangular building, connected to an apparently contemporary wall.

The area to be scheduled is a circle measuring 100m in diameter (centred on the settlement) to include the settlement and an area around in which traces of activities associated with the two phases of use of the monument may survive. The fabric above ground of the modern dyke crossing the monument is specifically excluded from the scheduling.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

The monument is of national importance as a well preserved scooped settlement of the Iron Age and a later building, which has the potential to enhance considerably our understanding of settlement in prehistory and the period before the agricultural improvements. It is of particular interest because the site has two phases of use. The earlier and later phases of the monument, taken with different types of broadly contemporary settlements in the area, have the potential to increase our knowledge of the organisation and use of the landscape in prehistory and in the pre-improvement period respectively.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

RCAHMS records the monument as NT 82 NW 41.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland