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Gibb's Hill, unenclosed settlement,palisaded settlements & houses

A Scheduled Monument in Annandale East and Eskdale, Dumfries and Galloway

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Coordinates

Latitude: 55.147 / 55°8'49"N

Longitude: -3.086 / 3°5'9"W

OS Eastings: 330878

OS Northings: 584168

OS Grid: NY308841

Mapcode National: GBR 68WX.PR

Mapcode Global: WH6XJ.KWNL

Entry Name: Gibb's Hill, unenclosed settlement,palisaded settlements & houses

Scheduled Date: 31 March 1988

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Source ID: SM4518

Schedule Class: Cultural

Category: Prehistoric domestic and defensive: palisaded settlement; Secular: house

Location: Langholm

County: Dumfries and Galloway

Electoral Ward: Annandale East and Eskdale

Traditional County: Dumfriesshire

Description

The monument is a settlement with four phases of development, of the late Bronze Age and Iron Age situated on the summit of Gibb?s Hill, and two groups of buildings of the pre-clearance period situated on the east flank of the hill. The monument includes three palisaded enclosures and at least 7 timber house-sites, 3 of which probably belong to the final phase of occupation.

Also in the area to be scheduled and immediately to the SSW there are traces of ?cord-rig? cultivation remains, over an area of 0.5 ha. An area 200m square centred on the summit of Gibb?s Hill is proposed for scheduling to cover these monuments. One group of pre-clearance buildings lies 320m ENE of the summit of Gibb?s Hill, immediately to the south of Rain Sike, and comprises 2 rectangular buildings constructed on platforms dug into the hillside.

The other group of buildings lies 240m SW of the summit of Gibb?s Hill; there are the remains of 2 buildings erected on platforms dug into the hillside. An area measuring 30m square is proposed for scheduling around each group. The prehistoric settlement is extremely well preserved and has a clearly defined complex history.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

The monument is of national importance to the theme of the development of settlement and defence in the late Bronze Age and early Iron Age. The adjacent and probably associated cultivation remains are of national importance to the understanding of the agricultural economics of this part of prehistory.

Palisaded enclosures, especially of this stratigraphic complexity are rare in the area; this monument is therefore of particular importance. The two groups of pre-clearance buildings are unusual in that they are isolated from obvious traces of contemporary cultivation and appear not to be farmsteads of the type noted elsewhere in the area.

They may represent an element of the economic system infrequently preserved. The study of the two groups and their association with the more typical farmsteads will be of national importance to the theme of pre-improvement settlement and agriculture.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

RCAHMS records the site as NY38SW 13.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Other nearby scheduled monuments

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