Description

The site comprises the remains of a roundhouse of Bronze Age (2500 BC – 800 BC) or Iron Age (800 BC – AD 400) date and recorded as cropmarks on aerial photographs. It is visible as a ring ditch measuring about 11.5m in overall diameter. There is a probable entrance gap on the north and the ditch broadens around the southern arc. No further identifiable archaeological remains have been recorded in vicinity. Additional cropmarks around the location of the roundhouse predominantly represent natural features. Some field drains and the remains of former field boundaries, probably of 19th or 20th century date, have also been recorded. The site lies on level ground, at about 15m above sea level.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

The culture significance of the site has been assessed as follows: 

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

The site has been recorded as cropmarks on aerial photographs and survives as buried deposits below the plough soil. It is a single ring ditch roundhouse with a north facing entrance. Such sites represent the remains of a dwelling, occupied during the Bronze Age or Iron Age.

Archaeological monuments often have features that are not visible on aerial photographs and can have well preserved stratified layers of archaeological deposits. There is therefore the potential for the survival of archaeological features and deposits, including occupation and abandonment debris, artefacts and environmental remains such as charcoal or pollen within the roundhouse. Such features have the potential to provide information about the function and date of the roundhouse.

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

Later prehistoric roundhouses are found throughout Scotland both as earthwork monuments and cropmarked sites. They are often recorded in clusters, sometimes forming distinct settlements, and within larger settlement enclosures. This example is a single, unenclosed, roundhouse. As an isolated roundhouse the significance of this monument is reduced.

There are other examples of roundhouses and settlements in this area, including SM11429 Lower Cullernie, settlement 415m SSW of (NRHE ID 82750) and SM11835 Newton of Perry, prehistoric settlement 350m WNW of (NRHE ID 14214). Also recorded as cropmarks, these examples have clearly defined remains and multiple recorded related features, indicating that the roundhouses recorded at these sites formed parts of larger settlements.

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 the site's national importance.

National importance

The site does not meet the criterion of national importance for the following reasons:a.   As a single, isolated roundhouse the site does not make a significant contribution to our understanding or appreciation of the past.b.   The site does not retain structural, architectural, decorative or other physical attributes to a significant degree which make a significant contribution to our understanding or appreciation of the past. The site is a single roundhouse. Examples of other roundhouses that have been designated retain their field characteristics to a greater degree than this example, with a complexity and coherence which indicates they were part of a larger settlement.c.   The monument is not a rare example of its class. Later prehistoric roundhouses are recorded throughout Scotland.e.   As a single isolated roundhouse, the monument has limited research potential which could significantly contribute to our understanding or appreciation of the past.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

Historic Environment Scotland https://www.trove.scot/ reference number NRHE ID 14219 (accessed on 15/10/2025).

Local Authority HER Reference MHG432 (accessed on 15/10/2025).

trove.scot

https://www.trove.scot/place/14219/

Source: Historic Environment Scotland