Scheduled Monument
Stroanfreggan Cairn, round cairnSM1043
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
- 18/03/1937
- Last Date Amended
- 18/08/2026
- Type
- Prehistoric ritual and funerary: cairn (type uncertain)
- Local Authority
- Dumfries And Galloway
- Parish
- Dalry (Dumf & Galloway)
- NGR
- NX 64013 91418
- Coordinates
- 264013, 591418
Description
The monument comprises the remains of a round cairn, a prehistoric burial mound likely dating to the Bronze Age (2500-800BC). It is sub-circular on plan, measuring about 26m in diameter. Some of the cairn material has been removed and the cairn survives as a two irregular stone mounds with a surrounding low grass-covered spread of stones. There are three large kerb stones surviving and a large stone cist with a capstone. It is located 120m northwest of Stroanfreggan bridge, at about 190m above sea level.
The interior of the cairn has been robbed, leaving two crescent shaped mounds of cairn material standing to a maximum height of about 2m. Three large boulders on the northern, eastern and western perimeter of the cairn likely represent the remains of a substantial kerb. The cist lies in the northeast part of the cairn. It is aligned north-south and measures about 1.1 by 0.6m internally, and about 0.7m deep. It is covered by a large capstone measuring about 1.5m long and 1.2m wide, with a maximum height of 0.6m.
The scheduled area is circular, measuring 64m in diameter. It includes the remains described above and an area around within which evidence relating to the monument's construction, use and abandonment is expected to survive, as shown in red on the accompanying map.
Statement of National Importance
The monument is of national importance as it makes a significant contribution to our understanding or appreciation of the past as a round cairn of probable Bronze Age date. It retains structural and other physical attributes, in particular the overall plan of the cairn, the surviving burial cist within the body of the cairn and the surrounding kerb stones. It adds to our understanding of the design and construction of burial monuments, the nature of burial and ritual practices and their significance in Bronze Age society. It also has research potential which could significantly contribute to our understanding of ritual and funerary practices in southwest Scotland during prehistory. It can enhance our understanding of Bronze Age society and economy, as well as the nature of belief systems, burial and ceremonial practices.
Although some of the overlying cairn material has been robbed, the surviving remains indicate that it was of a significant scale. It would therefore have been a prominent and important component of the wider prehistoric landscape of settlement, agriculture and ritual and would have been a prominent part of the prehistoric landscape. It can be studied in relation to the remains of other round cairns in the surrounding area such as Wood Cairn, cairn, Eldrig Fell (SM1953, NRHE ID 62297), Cairn Kinna (SM1880, NRHE ID 68801) and Mid Gleniron, chambered cairns (SM1944; NRHE ID 61597) to better understand their chronology, form, distribution and development at a local and national level.
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.
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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).
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