Description

The monument is the remains of a dun, a later prehistoric defended settlement dating probably to the Iron Age (between about 800 BC and 500 AD). It comprises an oval enclosure, with internal measurements of approximately 28m E-W by 21m transversely, within a single stone wall varying from around 3.5m to 5m wide. The enclosure survives best on the NW arc where one course of the outer wall-facing is visible. Elsewhere it stands 0.3m to 0.5m high and is turfed over for the most part. The entrance appears to have been in the E. The monument is situated on top of Dumbarrow Hill, a natural rocky prominence, at around 165m above sea level. The site has natural defences on the N, S and W sides and offers extensive views to the N over the waters of the Lunan Valley, and to the W and E. The monument was first scheduled in 1971, but the documentation did not meet modern standards: the present amendment rectifies this.

The scheduled area is oval on plan, measuring 58m E-W by 51m N-S, 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.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

The monument is of national importance because of its potential to make a significant addition to knowledge and understanding of settlement, society and economy in Iron Age Scotland. The monument is notable for the survival of upstanding remains and there is good potential for the preservation of important buried archaeological deposits and features relating to its construction and use. Duns are relatively rare in Angus: this is one of only three recorded examples, all within 7.5km of each other. There is high potential to examine the relationship between these three duns, and between the duns and other types of broadly contemporary, Iron Age settlements in Angus, most of which are now visible only as cropmarks in lower-lying agricultural land. The monument has considerable potential to broaden our understanding of the range, distribution and form of Iron Age settlement across Angus and Scotland in general. Our understanding of the distribution and character of later prehistoric settlements would be diminished if this monument was to be lost or damaged.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

The monument is recorded in RCAHMS as NO54NE5 and in the Angus Sites and Monuments Record as NO54NE0005.

References

NSA 1834-1845, The New Statistical Account of Scotland by the Ministers of the Respective Parishes under the Superintendence of a Committee of the Society for the Benefit of the Sons and Daughters of the Clergy, 15v, Edinburgh, 11, 142.

Ordnance Survey (Name Book) Object Name Books of the Ordnance Survey (6 inch and 1/2500 scale), Book no 38, 65.

RCAHMS 1978, The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. The archaeological sites and monuments of Lunan Valley, Montrose Basin, Angus District, Tayside Region, The archaeological sites and monuments of Scotland series no 4, Edinburgh, 17, no 100.

Warden, A J 1880-5, Angus or Forfarshire: the land and people, descriptive and historical, 5v, Dundee, 1, 53.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland