Building record MAB26382 - HILLHEAD, CHARLESTON

Consumption dyke, measuring 2.8 m wide and 1.1 m high at the west end, and 1.7 m wide and 0.8 m high at the east.

Consumption dyke, measuring 2.8 m wide and 1.1 m high at the west end, and 1.7 m wide and 0.8 m high at the east. 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 before 1867. 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 6 (Bibliographic reference). SAB3745.

CROLY, C, 2004, CONSUMPTION DYKES ON THE ESTATE OF CHARLESTON (Bibliographic reference). SAB7077.

Record last edited

May 30 2025 2:13PM