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

  SM12124_Legal Doc

  Download(https://portal.historicenvironment.scot/document/600014183)

Summary

Description

The monument comprises the remains of a pre-Improvement, potentially earlier, farmstead surviving as a well-preserved set of earthworks, specifically two round-ended buildings, a turf bank, four clearance cairns and an associated field system. The site is located around 100m NE of the summit of Bandodle, in the south of Strathdon, at an altitude of around 255m above sea level.

Two small round-ended buildings lie about 15m apart. The NE of the two measures 11m N-S by 6m transversely. Its walls are now reduced to grass-grown stony banks around 1.4m in thickness and 0.2m in height. No entrance can be traced for this building, but a faint depression can be seen extending around the exterior. The second building is located to the SW. It is of a similar appearance, measuring around 11m N-S by 6.5m transversely. Its walls are also reduced to grass-grown stony banks, measuring around 1.6m in thickness and 0.3m in height. A low bank extends E from a point on the fence line west of the SW building, and disappears into a gorse thicket to the south of the NE building. Four small cairns are located in the vicinity. Of these, the example located between the two buildings, around 7m east of the SW building and 6m south-south-west of the NE building, appears to be surrounded by a shallow ditch. The cairn itself measures around 3.4m diameter and is around 0.3m in height.

The area to be scheduled is irregular on plan to include the remains described and an area around within which evidence relating to their construction and use may survive, as shown in red on the accompanying map. The scheduling specifically excludes the above-ground elements of all fence lines within the scheduled area, to allow for their maintenance.

Statement of National Importance

Cultural Significance

The monument's cultural significance can be expressed as follows:

Intrinsic characteristics

The level of preservation of this site is excellent for its class, as round-ended buildings rarely survive to such a degree. The presence of round-ended turf-built structures suggests that the site may have a late-medieval origin. The associated clearance cairns on the site suggest that it has not been cultivated for some time, hence its survival. At least one phase of enclosure also bounds the buildings. The associated rig-and-furrow field system presents an excellent opportunity to analyse farming practices of this period, and the relationship of these remains to the farmstead itself. The excellent survival of the surface remains also suggests an extremely high potential for extensive buried deposits to survive as well. Such deposits could not only inform about the construction, use and abandonment of turf-built structures and the associated remains on this site, but also inform our understanding of similar sites of this class and period.

Contextual characteristics

Well-preserved, round-ended houses are relatively rare, as is the survival of undisturbed pre-Improvement farmsteads in this part of Scotland. The site does not appear, even in ruined form, on the OS 1st edition maps of the mid-19th century. This, together with the distinctive form of houses, may suggest an early, possibly late-medieval, origin. The monument itself has commanding views in all directions, and especially to the east, north and west. Further prehistoric remains also exist on the hill, including two Bronze- or Iron-Age hut circles, which together presents an important opportunity to assess the changing occupation of this area over thousands of years.

National Importance

This monument is of national importance because it has an inherent potential to contribute to our understanding of the past, in particular pre-Improvement farming settlements. Turf-built structures possibly from the late-medieval period are extremely rare in this area and this example represents an important opportunity for informing our knowledge of them. Buried deposits from such sites have the potential to tell us about wider society at the time, how people lived, where they came from and who they had contact with. Its loss would impede our ability to understand the use of such monuments, their placing within the pre-Improvement landscape, and the social structure and economy of the time.

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.