Documents

Where documents include maps, the use of this data is subject to terms and conditions (https://portal.historicenvironment.scot/termsandconditions).

The legal document available for download below constitutes the formal designation of the monument under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979. The additional details provided on this page are provided for information purposes only and do not form part of the designation. Historic Environment Scotland accepts no liability for any loss or damages arising from reliance on any inaccuracies within this additional information.

• Type

  Legal Documents

  Title

  SM6097_Legal Doc

  Download(https://portal.historicenvironment.scot/document/600011989)

Summary

Description

The monument comprises the remains of a multivallate enclosure dating to before AD 400 and a cluster of nearby features, including a barrow. The remains lie buried beneath the ploughsoil and are visible as cropmarks captured on oblique aerial photographs. The monument lies at about 15m OD on relatively flat arable farmland about 750m N of the shore of the Montrose Basin.

The enclosure is defined by a ditch up to 5m wide enclosing a circular area some 33m in diameter. A possible break in the E side may indicate a single entrance. Some 5m inside the outer ditch, another cropmark indicates the line of a narrower, concentric inner ditch with a break to the N. Other cropmarks appear to indicate buildings or yards within the enclosure. About 60m to the ESE of the enclosure is a ring ditch 7m in diameter that indicates the remains of a barrow or burial mound. Numerous other cropmarks in the vicinity represent the remains of other prehistoric structures and deposits.

The scheduled area is irregular on plan to include the remains described above and an area around them within which evidence relating to the monument's construction, use and abandonment is expected to survive, as shown in red on the accompanying map. The monument was first scheduled in 1994, but the documentation did not meet modern standards: the present amendment rectifies this.

Statement of National Importance

The monument is of national importance because of its potential to make a significant addition to knowledge and understanding of prehistoric enclosures. The survival of a multivallate enclosure with a wide outer ditch, a narrower inner ditch and clear evidence for internal features is rare in its regional context. This enclosure is well defined on aerial photographs and has considerable complexity, giving high potential for a sequence of construction and occupation. The presence of a barrow and other features outside the enclosure further enhances the monument's potential and can indicate how an enclosure might relate to other prehistoric features. The importance of the monument is greatly enhanced by its association with the wider landscape of prehistoric settlement on the N shore of the Montrose Basin. The archaeological landscape here forms an important concentration of evidence for social and economic change in eastern Scotland between 2000 BC and AD 1000. Our understanding of the distribution and character of prehistoric enclosures and funerary sites would be diminished if this monument was to be lost or damaged.

References

Bibliography

About Scheduled Monuments

Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designating sites and places at the national level. These designations are Scheduled monuments, Listed buildings, Inventory of gardens and designed landscapes and Inventory of historic battlefields.

We make recommendations to the Scottish Government about historic marine protected areas, and the Scottish Ministers decide whether to designate.

Scheduling is the process that identifies, designates and provides statutory protection for monuments and archaeological sites of national importance as set out in the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979.

We schedule sites and monuments that are found to be of national importance using the selection guidance published in Designation Policy and Selection Guidance (2019)

Scheduled monument records provide an indication of the national importance of the scheduled monument which has been identified by the description and map. The description and map (see ‘legal documents’ above) showing the scheduled area is the designation of the monument under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979. The statement of national importance and additional information provided are supplementary and provided for general information purposes only. Historic Environment Scotland accepts no liability for any loss or damages arising from reliance on any inaccuracies within the statement of national importance or additional information. These records are not definitive historical or archaeological accounts or a complete description of the monument(s).

The format of scheduled monument records has changed over time. Earlier records will usually be brief. Some information will not have been recorded and the map will not be to current standards. Even if what is described and what is mapped has changed, the monument is still scheduled.

Scheduled monument consent is required to carry out certain work, including repairs, to scheduled monuments. Applications for scheduled monument consent are made to us. We are happy to discuss your proposals with you before you apply and we do not charge for advice or consent. More information about consent and how to apply for it can be found on our website at www.historicenvironment.scot.

Find out more about scheduling and our other designations at www.historicenvironment.scot/advice-and-support. You can contact us on 0131 668 8914 or at designations@hes.scot.