Scheduled Monument
Gallow Hill,settlement and ring-ditch 320m N of Girvan MainsSM5501
Status: Designated
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.
Summary
- Date Added
- 15/12/1992
- Type
- Prehistoric domestic and defensive: settlement (if not assigned to any more specific type), Prehistoric ritual and funerary: barrow
- Local Authority
- South Ayrshire
- Parish
- Girvan
- NGR
- NX 19047 99641
- Coordinates
- 219047, 599641
Description
The monument consists of the cropmark remains of a settlement and ring-ditch on Gallow Hill, to the N of Girvan Mains farmsteading. There are no surface traces of either site, which have been revealed by aerial photography.
The settlement is situated on the rounded summit of Gallow Hill. D- shaped on plan, it measures about 58m by 45m within a ditch up to 6m broad, and there are opposed entrances on the NE and SW respectively. The circuit may originally have been complete. There are slight indications of a narrow ditch, possibly a palisade trench, which is roughly concentric with the NE arc of ditch. The ring-ditch enclosure is circular on plan and measures about 14m in diameter within a ditch about 1-2m wide.
It may be the remains of a prehistoric (Bronze Age) burial.
The area to be scheduled consists of two discrete portions: the S portion (the settlement) is subcircular on plan and measures 115m from NE to SW by 100m transversely; the N portion (ring-ditch) measures 55m in diameter. These areas include the cropmarks and an area around in which associated remains may survive, as marked in red on the attached map.
Statement of National Importance
The monument is of national importance because the ring-ditch (probably the remains of a prehistoric burial barrow) and settlement have the potential to provide information about ritual and organisational aspects of Bronze Age and Iron Age society. The settlement is particularly important as few coastal forts and settlements survive in their upstanding form in this area of Scotland. Traces of internal features, such as timber houses, may survive within the interior of the settlement.
References
Bibliography
No Bibliography entries for this designation
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.
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