Building record MAB39456 - HERD HILL

Unenclosed settlement, comprised of two hut circles and an oval enclosure recorded by RCAHMS 1982 and subsequently by AOC in 1994.

Unenclosed settlement, comprised of two hut circles and an oval enclosure recorded by RCAHMS 1982 and subsequently by AOC in 1994. Hut 1 (NO 6168 7630) has a wall spread 1.6m, height 0.3m with interior levelled into slope and entrance on south-southeast. Hut 2 (180m to south at NO 6167 7617) is 7.5m in diameter with interior levelled into slope and entrance in the southeast. There is a complex entrance break in the south which may have featured a spur-wall, entrance cell or windbreak. The small oval enclosure lies 50m northeast of hut 1, on a small natural terrace. It is defined by low heather-clad banks, maximum diameter 13m, with an entrance break in the southeast. There are traces of at least two field banks and several small stone clearance heaps, 3m wide by 0.5m high, over an area of about 9 ha around and below the settlement. In an area downslope from these hut circles and cultivation plots are three other features. At NO 6165 7617 is a low broad amorphous mound, 15m wide by 0.5m high which may represent some ritual, funerary or even domestic structure related to the hut circles, or, alternatively, may represent the remains of a more recent shieling or shooting butt. At NO 6163 7605 is a low circular enclosure of low heather-covered banks with internal diameter of 4m within banks 2m wide by 0.2m high. This again may represent a shieling or shooting butt rather than an earlier feature. At NO 6165 7595 lies a third hut circle with internal diameter of 6.5m within low, broad earth banks 3m wide, with an entrance in the south. All these features are ill-defined and heather-clad. The site was also recorded during rapid walkover carried out by D Hall in March 2021 ahead of proposed woodland creation scheme. The best-defined hut circle on Herd Hill has a low bank standing 0.40m high and 3m wide defining a circular area of 8m diameter, with an entrance 1.75m wide in the southeast side. There is some stone visible in the bank and at the entrance. The second hut circle recorded by RCAHMS 1982 was not located, nor the hut circle identified by AOC in 1994 at NO 6165 7595. However, a platform at NO6172376137 circa 50m northeast of the recorded hut circle may represent the site of another hut circle. A low cairn of stones, possibly a denuded clearance cairn, was noted northeast of the hut circle and two more possible clearance cairns were identified in a second visit n April at NO 61784 76225 and NO 61548 76046. The enclosure identified by AOC in 1994 at NO63137605 was not located.

O'SULLIVAN, J, 1994, DES ; MATTHEW'S TOP, FORESTRY SURVEY, 27 (Bibliographic reference). SAB1377.

SETTLEMENT

O'SULLIVAN, J, 1994, FORESTRY SURVEY: MATTHEW'S TOP, KINCARDINE AND DEESIDE DISTRICT, 10-11 (Bibliographic reference). SAB1371.

HALL, D, 2021, RAPID WALKOVER SURVEY, FASQUE ESTATE, Site 7 (Bibliographic reference). SAB5954.

RCAHMS, n.d., S KINC LIST, No151 (Bibliographic reference). SAB1512.

Record last edited

Jul 28 2023 11:46AM