Building record MAB35485 - HILL OF ROWAN

Remains of hut circles, a field system and cairns.

Remains of hut circles, a field system and cairns. According to Jervise, a number of graves were found on the flat part of Rowan Hill (the reputed battlefield of Bruce and Cumyn). Most, if not all, were regarded as earlier than Bruce's time, some contained bones, but no arms or weapons. A cluster of such graves was found in cutting through a gravel hillock while a road was being made round the hill to Invermark in the 19th century. 'One of them was built in a circular form of rough stones and filled with earth and gravel: the rest, about 8 or 10 in number, which surrounded the first, were without any building, being merely in excavations: some of them were covered with flat stones, and contained bones. Each had a conical mound raised over it'. Bruce was intercepted in the neighbourhood of Rowan Hill by Comyn, Earl of Buchan, on the 25th December 1307, but all the evidence indicates that Comyn withdrew, no battle being fought. The cairns which are scattered along the south-east side of the hill, and presumably the burials recorded by Jervise, belong to an earlier period with flint arrowheads having been found within them. Two of the cairns were investigated in the twentieth century, one 'was taken down to the original land surface and rebuilt' by members of the Abertay Historical Society circa 1957. No relics were found, nor was any structure apparent in the stones. A local informant stated that another cairn was dismantled 'some years ago' with similar negative results. In the area, on the undulating east shoulder of the Hill of Rowan, there are the footings of two hut circles, three circular features, several rectangular buildings with rounded ends, and an extensive field system. The two hut circles, at NO 4809 7940 and NO 4810 7936, are slightly oval and formed by banks of rubble stones, circa 3 m thick. They both measure 16.5 m east-west by 13.5 m from crest to crest of bank, and circa 1 m maximum height. The former is mutilated by a track through it, and no entrance is discernible, while the latter has an entrance in the southeast, where the wall thickens to circa 4 m. Adjacent to the modern road at NO 483 791 are three circular structures 5-6 m in diameter, formed by low turf-covered banks of rubble, 0.2 m high. These may be the denuded cairns described by Jervise, excavated when making the nearby road, or possibly stone clearance heaps quarried for road metalling. There are the footings of at least eight rectangular buildings with rounded ends in the area. They are crudely constructed of rubble stones, and measure from circa 5 m x 4 m to circa 13 m x 5 m. They appear to be earlier than typical depopulated buildings in the Highlands. The extensive system of fields delineated by turf-covered stony banks, average size 30 m x 13 m, terraces, rig and furrow, and unusually large clearance heaps are associated with these rectangular buildings and possibly overlie any field system contemporary with the hut circles. Further burials with flint arrowheads and the head of a battle-axe were discovered circa 1900 by local inhabitants and reburied, but their find spot cannot be ascertained except that it was near the modern road.

Jervise, A, 1859, Proc Soc Antiq Scot 2, 66-7 (Bibliographic reference). SAB11999.

JERVISE, A., 1882, HISTORY & TRADITIONS OF THE LAND OF THE LINDSAYS, 80-2 (2nd ed.) (Bibliographic reference). SAB901.

Feb 13 2001 , AAS/01/1/CT28-31, AAS/01/1/CT28-31 (Air-oblique Photograph). SAB23497.

Feb 13 2001 , AAS/01/1/G2/12-3, AAS/01/1/G2/12-3 (Air-oblique Photograph). SAB24788.

Record last edited

Sep 22 2022 12:18PM