Description

The monument comprises the remains of two hut circles, visible as upstanding walls located in a forest clearing. The hut circles are likely to be Late Bronze Age or Iron Age, dating to the first or second millennium BC. The monument lies on a north-facing slope, at 265m above sea level, 300m SSW of Torness Cottages. One of the hut-circles is marked on the 1:10000 Ordnance Survey map.

The monument consists of two curvilinear stone banks. The northernmost hut circle measures 14m diameter. The wall is 1.8 m thick and has several facing stones. Its entrance is on the E. The second hut circle is on a platform dug into the slope. It measures 9.5m in diameter and has an entrance on the N. It lies within a possible enclosure, which measures about 70m E to W by about 45m transversely and consists of a ruinous wall.

The area to be scheduled is sub-rectangular on plan, to include the remains described above and an area around them within which evidence for their construction and use may be expected to be found, as shown in red on the accompanying map. The scheduling specifically excludes modern field boundaries on its perimeter, to allow for their maintenance.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

Cultural Significance

The monument's archaeological significance can be expressed as follows:

Intrinsic characteristics: The monument consists of the well-preserved example of two later prehistoric roundhouses and an enclosure, with upstanding remains dating to the first or second millennium BC. The monument retains denuded drystone walls. Given that they are in maintained woodland clearing and the area has not been used for intensive cultivation, it is likely that archaeologically significant deposits relating to construction, use and abandonment of the structures remain in place. In addition, it is likely that deposits survive that could provide data relating to the later prehistoric environment.

The site has considerable potential to enhance understanding of later prehistoric roundhouses and the daily lives of the people who occupied them.

Contextual characteristics: The monument is a good representative of a once common class. Several other hut circle sites lie within 1km of this monument and together these elements have the potential to provide a better understanding of how later prehistoric society was structured.

National Importance: The monument is of national importance because it has an inherent potential to make a significant addition to the understanding of the past, in particular Bronze or Iron Age society and the nature of later prehistoric domestic practice. This potential is enhanced by its good preservation and the survival of marked field characteristics. The loss of the example would significantly impede our ability to understand the Iron Age in Northern Scotland.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

RCAHMS record the monument as NH52NE 13.

Photographs:

RCAHMS 54181 - Torness Cottage - hut-circles.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland