Description

The monument is the remains of a farmstead, likely to be medieval in date. It comprises the farmstead and four well defined enclosures. What may be a fifth small enclosure is located on the southern side of the monument but is partially obscured by later features. A substantial land boundary, possibly a head dyke, associated with the farmstead extends northwards along the top of the gully for around 200m. The monument lies in pasture at the edge of a steep gully above the Thorter Burn at around 265m above sea level.

The monument comprises three well-defined sub-rectangular enclosures and a farmstead set into the steep west bank of the Thorter Burn. The largest enclosure, on the north side of farmstead, measures around 20m by 30m over banks up to 0.4m to 0.5m high. The farmstead is located in the centre of the group and measures around 12m by 6m. To the southeast of the farmstead is an enclosure measuring around 17m by 12m and to the southwest is a further enclosure measuring around 17m by 16m. What may be a fifth enclosure is present to the eastern side of the monument, however, it has been disturbed by a later earthen bank that runs northeast to southwest from the top of the steep bank of the Thorter Burn beneath a modern post and wire fence and cuts through the enclosing banks of the southern enclosures. Another earthen bank and ditch extends northwards for about 200 metres from the northern corner of enclosures and is likely to be a contemporary field boundary or head dyke.

The scheduled area is irregular. It includes the remains described above and an area which extends 5m beyond the base of the earthworks within which evidence relating to the monument's construction, use and abandonment is expected to survive, as shown in red on the accompanying map. The scheduled area specifically excludes the above ground elements of the modern post and wire fence, which crosses the monument.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

The national importance of the monument is demonstrated in the following way(s) (see Designations Policy and Selection Guidance, Annex 1, para 17): 

a.   The monument is of national importance because it makes a significant contribution to our understanding or appreciation of the past or has the potential to do so. It has the potential to contribute to our understanding of the character and nature of medieval rural settlement in southern Scotland.

b.   The monument retains physical attributes which make a significant contribution to our understanding or appreciation of the past. It has the potential to increase our understanding of construction methods and materials of medieval domestic buildings through scientific study of the monument's structural remains.

d.   The monument is a particularly good example of a medieval lowland farmstead and is therefore an important representative of this monument type. This monument has both domestic and agricultural buildings as well as an associated field or land boundary. Their survival provides information on the morphology and use of space within these medieval agricultural settlements.

e.   The monument has research potential which could significantly contribute to our understanding of medieval and rural settlement, architecture, economy and social organisation. Its importance is enhanced by its potential to provide information on the development of rural settlement in lowland Scotland.

Assessment of Cultural Significance

This statement of national importance has been informed by the following assessment of cultural significance:

Intrinsic characteristics (how the remains of a site or place contribute to our knowledge of the past)

The monument survives as the well-preserved earthwork remains of a farmstead with associated enclosures and field boundary, possibly a head dyke which is of likely medieval date. The earthworks are mostly well-preserved and the form and layout of the monument is clearly understandable. The farmstead survives as a rectangular earthwork with a bow-end at the southwest. Bow-ended buildings are a typical form of medieval farmhouse supporting the interpterion that this farm is of medieval date. Surrounding the farmstead are four or possibly five enclosures which are likely to have been used for stock management, perhaps a kitchen garden and for agricultural activities. A substantial earth bank runs northwest from the edge of the monument along the top of the steep sided gulley of the Thorter Burn.  It is likely that this was a field boundary, possibly a head dyke for the fields around the farm.

The farmstead does not appear on historic mapping such as Gordon's map of Eastern Scotland (c.1636-52) or Roy's military map of the Lowlands (c.1745-55). Other nearby farms such as Castle Moffat (Canmore ID 209316) and Clints (Canmore ID 367053) are depicted on General Roy's map but do not appear on earlier maps. This would suggest that this site predates the published mapping and may have been abandoned in the medieval period. To the south and southwest of the earthworks are areas of rig cultivation which may be related to the monument. Much of the rig that survives is medieval in character suggesting that there may have been a period of abandonment between the medieval use of the area and the post-medieval periods. This is likely to be as a result of climatic deterioration during the late medieval period which led to a retreat from high-lying cultivation (Parry 1975). It may have been in this period when the farmstead was abandoned.

The grass covered earthworks which form the farmstead, enclosures and field boundary are well defined and relatively undisturbed. Therefore, there is good potential for the survival of buried structures and archaeological deposits, artefacts and environmental information within, beneath and around the farmstead. Buried archaeological deposits have the potential to provide information about the date and character of the site, while any artefacts and environmental information such as pollen or charcoal, would enhance understanding of the economy, diet and social status of the occupants, as well as provide information about contemporary land use and environment.

Contextual characteristics (how a site or place relates to its surroundings and/or to our existing knowledge of the past)

Farmsteads are a common monument type which is found throughout Scotland. The monument on Fallow Green Rig is important as a rare example of an abandoned medieval farmstead which survives as earthworks and has not continued as use as farm into later periods. It is of significance as an upstanding and well-preserved example with part of its associated field boundaries. The monument is located within a landscape of other deserted farmsteads, such as Mid Hill (Canmore ID 367053), Mossy Burn (Canmore ID 57810) and Deuchrie Edge (Canmore ID 366193) which may be broadly contemporary.

Comparison with this monument and others in East Lothian and with historic rural settlement sites in other parts of Scotland could enhance our understanding of regional variations in rural settlement in the medieval period. It could add to our understanding of the structure of society and the form and nature of contemporary rural settlement. This monument therefore has the potential to enhance and broaden our understanding of such agricultural and domestic practices.

Associative characteristics (how a site or place relates to people, events, and/or historic and social movements)

There are no known associative characteristics that contribute to this monuments national importance.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

Historic Environment Scotland http://www.canmore.org.uk reference number CANMORE ID 57493 (accessed on 12/06/2023).

Gordon, R (c. 1636-52) A map of Eastern Scotland, including basins of Rivers Don, Dee, Tay, Forth, and Tweed.

Roy, W (1747-1755) Military Survey of Scotland, 1747-1755

East Lothian HER Reference MEL1406 (accessed on 12/06/2023).

Glendinning M and Wade Martins S, 2008 Buildings of the Land. Scotland's Farms 1750 -2000. RCAHMS, Edinburgh.

Parry, M. L. (1975). "Secular Climatic Change and Marginal Agriculture." in Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, no. 64, pp. 1–13. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/621462. (accessed 30/06/2023).

Canmore

https://canmore.org.uk/site/57493/

Source: Historic Environment Scotland