Description

The monument comprises the remains of a prehistoric burial cairn and "four-poster" stone circle, funerary and ritual structures typical of the early Bronze Age (c.2000-1300BC). The monument was originally scheduled in 1928 and again in 1961, but in both cases the area covered by the designation was not properly defined. The current rescheduling rectifies this.

The monument lies at around 155m OD on a broad ridge overlooking the Kirkbride Burn to the W and Wigtown Bay beyond. The cairn is roughly circular, approximately 15m in diameter and 1.5m high. Its profile is irregular and hollows in the body of the cairn probably indicate stone-robbing for nearby field boundaries. Two large upright boulders on the ESE edge of the cairn may represent the remains of a perimeter cairn, and another thin upright slab set into the cairn on its N side may indicate an internal structure.

The four-poster stone "circle" lies immediately to the ENE of the cairn. All four stones appear roughly square in section and are about 0.5m wide. The stone on the E side of the group has fallen, but the other three still stand upright to a maximum height of 0.6m, forming an L shape, with their centres 2m apart.

The area to be scheduled is a circle, 35m in diameter, centred on the cairn, to include the cairn and four-poster and an area around and between them where remains relating to their construction and use may be expected to survive, as shown in red on the attached map extract.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography
No Bibliography entries for this designation

Source: Historic Environment Scotland