Description

The monument is the remains of a prehistoric enclosure that probably surrounded a settlement. The enclosure ditch is visible as cropmarks captured on oblique aerial photographs. The enclosure dates probably to between 500 BC and AD 200. The cropmarks show that the enclosure ditch is some 2-5m wide and defines an approximately square area measuring about 140m N-S by at least 120m transversely. The ditch on the W side is straight whereas that to the S has a shallow angle 90m from its W end. The E side of the enclosure is not visible as a cropmark, probably because a modern track used to run here. There is an indication of an entrance at the enclosure's SW corner. The enclosure lies on the East Lothian coastal plain on fairly level ground at around 25m OD, immediately S of the modern A1 trunk road. The monument was first scheduled in 1993, but the documentation did not meet modern standards: the present amendment rectifies this.

The scheduled area is irregular on plan to include the remains described above and an area around them 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 scheduling specifically excludes a pair of electricity cables that run immediately N of the scheduled area at an approximate depth of 1m-1.5m together with the overlying soil above the cables. Along its NE edge the scheduling extends up to but excludes a post-and-wire fence. The scheduling specifically excludes the above-ground elements of a post-and-wire fence that crosses the scheduled area.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

The monument is of national importance because of its potential to make a significant addition to understanding of settlement in the later Iron Age and Roman periods. This is an example of a late prehistoric rectilinear enclosure, but is notable in being significantly larger than many local examples. The enclosure's ditches have high potential to contain deep archaeological deposits that can expand understanding of later prehistoric settlement in SE Scotland. However, its importance is significantly enhanced by its location within a dense concentration of prehistoric monuments, some now excavated, that allow the use of the local landscape to be charted from the Neolithic through to the late Iron Age. Researchers have suggested that rectangular enclosures are the basic farmsteads of the late Iron Age and, as such, this monument represents an example of a key component of the late Iron Age landscape. Our understanding of the distribution and character of late Iron Age settlements would be diminished if this monument was lost or damaged.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

RCAHMS records the monument as NT67NE 75. The East Lothian Council Historic Environment Record reference is MEL1575.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland