Description

The monument comprises an ill-defined low turf covered mound traversed by a modern stone dyke, an upright stone located immediately to the E (landward side) of the dyke and a second stone protrudinges from this low mound to the W (seaward) side of the dyke. To the north, east and south of the upright stone there are low linear features which may represent the remains of a rectangular enclosure. The monument, then defined as solely the larger upright stone, was first scheduled in 1958, but an inadequate area was included to protect all of the archaeological remains: the present rescheduling rectifies this.

The most prominent feature of the monument is an upright stone slab, measuring 0.76m high by 0.61m broad by 0.2m in thickness. A smaller slab protrudes from the turf on the seaward, W side of the dyke, about 1.9m away. Both stones are set into a low ill-defined linear mound, traversed by the modern dyke. To the north of this low mound is a well-defined linear bank running almost E-W. It is overlain by the modern dyke but its continuation seaward of the dyke is uncertain. Stones in the shore-edge erosion profile suggest that the bank did continue to the W of the dyke. At its E terminal, this low bank abuts a less clear linear feature, possibly a lynchet, that runs N-S. Taken together these two features appear to form the N and E margins of a square or rectangular enclosure. The S margin is defined by a third linear, but less well-defined, feature. Together these three components appear to form the N, W and S margins of an enclosure, centred on the upright stone. The enclosure measures approximately 10m N-S. Further interpretation of this monument is not possible without excavation, but it is reasonable to presume that in its current form it relates to and is associated with the known late prehistoric or early medieval settlement in the immediate area.

The area to be scheduled is four sided, measuring a maximum of 20m N-S by 20m transversely, to include both upright slabs and all visible features as marked in on the accompanying plan. The modern dyke is specifically excluded from scheduling.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

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Source: Historic Environment Scotland