Building record MAB20879 - HILTON FARM, HILLHEAD ROAD, ABERDEEN

Consumption dyke, measuring 5 m wide, and between 0.9 and 1 m high.

Consumption dyke, measuring 5 m wide, and between 0.9 and 1 m high. Unfortunately it is not known by whom or when this dyke was built. More work remains to be done on the dykes in this area. The Ordnance Survey maps suggest that this dyke was built after 1867 but before 1901. The 1866-69 and 1901-3 Ordnance Survey maps show that the farmer at Hilton farm had expanded the cultivated area of his land: he had expanded into a wooded area to the south of Hilton farm (and thereby joined up his fields which had been punctuated by these woods). All of the consumption dykes at Hilton farm relate to this process as does NJ80SE0315, a linear field clearance cairn, which represent the surplus stones unable to be 'consumed' by the dykes. Although consumption dykes are not entirely unique to the north east of Scotland they are not found in any substantial numbers elsewhere in the world. They are dykes which result from the very rocky nature of the ground in the north east of Scotland and are associated with the period of agricultural improvements from the 18th century. Part of this movement involved clearing new ground of stones to create new fields. The excessive number of rocks and boulders in Aberdeen made this particularly arduous. The cleared rocks could be put to a number of different uses: if it was economical they could be sold off and shipped elsewhere. Many of the boulders and stones cleared in the north east were made into paving slabs in London. But where there were too many or where the distance to move them to the coast for transportation was too high they were often formed into consumption dykes. These dykes 'consumed' the stones cleared from the land. Technically these dykes may be defined as ones which are broader than they are tall. Historically they have also been known as Aberdeenshire Dykes and Consuming Dykes. They perform two functions: firstly to delineate a field boundary as all dykes do and secondly to use up the excess of stones. In some cases they also perform a third aesthetic function. In certain cases they have paths laid out along the top of them and are very much monuments to the taste of the estate landowner who had them created.

BABTIE GROUP, 2004, ABERDEEN WESTERN PERIPHERAL ROUTE: ARCHAEOLOGICAL DESK-BASED STUDY & WALKOVER SURVEY. VOL 1: TEXT, VOL 2 GAZETTEER, Site 70 (Bibliographic reference). SAB3745.

Record last edited

Dec 11 2025 3:10PM