Description

The monument comprises the remains of a scooped settlement, visible as upstanding earthworks. Scooped settlements are farmsteads dating from the early first millennium AD.

The monument lies at around 130m OD, at the foot of a scarp which separates two river terraces on the E bank of the Kinnel Water. The scooped settlement is roughly circular on plan and measures about 45m in diameter within a turf-covered bank. There is no trace of the bank on the N side where the rear of the enclosure has been levelled to a depth of 1.5m into the natural slope, but elsewhere the enclosing bank measures up to 6m in thickness and 0.5m in height. The original entrance to the settlement probably lay on the SW. A low scarp meanders from E to W across the interior of the settlement and may mark the upper edge of a sunken yard, characteristic of these monuments. There is no obvious trace of the original buildings that would have occupied the settlement, but these may be hidden beneath the more recent constructions occupying the site. The enclosing bank is overlain by a sheepfold of drystone walling, with two pens occupying the N half of the interior.

The area to be scheduled comprises the remains described and an area around them within which related evidence may be expected to survive. It is roughly circular on plan and measures a maximum of 65m in diameter, as shown in red on the accompanying map. The above-ground remains of the sheepfold are specifically excluded from the scheduling.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

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Source: Historic Environment Scotland