Description

The monument comprises the remains of a scooped settlement, probably dating from the first millennium AD. The scooped settlement lies in unimproved pasture on the steep W-facing flank of Fenton Heights, overlying an earlier earthwork of uncertain date and purpose.

The earthwork occupies an unusual position on the steeply sloping valley side, taking in two terraces below the crest of the hill. Roughly oval on plan, it measures about 94m NE-SW by 60m transversely, within a grass-grown stony bank up to 6m in thickness and 1.5m in height. The bank is accompanied by an external ditch which, on the SE where it is best preserved, measures up to 4.5m in width and 0.7m in depth; on the NE, the sides of a natural hollow have been modified to form the ditch. On the NW and SW, the remains of a plough-damaged and robbed outer bank can be seen; it measures up to 4m wide and 0.5m high. The entrance probably lay on the W, but its position has been obscured by the subsequent construction of the scooped settlement.

The scooped settlement occupies the lower and larger of the two terraces within the enclosure. On the NW it overlies the line of the earlier earthwork. Roughly oval on plan, the settlement measures about 54m from N to S by 33m transversely, within a grass-grown stony bank which, where best-preserved, is up to 5m wide and 0.6m high. However, the course of the bank along much of the uphill (E) side is marked only by the scoop of the interior. The entrance lies on the W, in a length of the bank that has been disturbed by stone-robbing; a gap in the bank on the S is probably of relatively recent date. Within the interior, which has been levelled up by as much as 1.2m into the natural slope, there are the remains of at least two house platforms measuring up to 8.5m in diameter. The only other visible feature is an oval enclosure, measuring 14.5m from NW to SE by 7m transversely internally, which has been built against the inner face of the settlement bank on the S. It contains the remains of a small turf-built structure, possibly a sheep pen, at its SE end.

The area to be scheduled comprises the remains described and an area around them within which related evidence may be expected to survive. It is circular on plan and measures a maximum of 130m in diameter, as shown in red on the accompanying map.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

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Source: Historic Environment Scotland