Description

The monument consists of two cairns, separated by some distance and set in clearings in forestry planting.

The larger cairn, the King's Cairn, is circular on plan. It has been robbed to the level of the chambers, and was cleared and excavated in 1928. It is of the Bargrennan group, with a diameter of 19m. It contains two chambers at least, each being 3m long and lying on the same NW-SE axis.

The second cairn lies 330m to the SW. It is round, 10m across and 0.7m high, with a small modern cairn on its E side. It appears to be unexcavated.

The area to be scheduled is in two parts, corresponding to the clear area at each cairn. At the King's Cairn, a circle 30m in diameter, and at the SW cairn a circle 20m in diameter, to include the cairns and a small area around each in which evidence relating to their construction and use may survive, as marked in red on the accompanying map.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

The monument is of national importance as a pair of cairns in close proximity, one of which may be unexcavated. Each has the potential to provide information about prehistoric burial practices and ritual beliefs, and comparison between the two may be illuminating as regards the variety of cairn-building practised in the late Neolithic and early Bronze Age periods.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

The monument is recorded in RCAHMS as NS 50 SE 5 and NS 50 SE 1.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland