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RCAHMS Afforestable Land Survey, Glen Devon
Date March 1998 - June 1998
Event ID 550874
Category Project
Type Project
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/550874
Glen Devon: between March and June 1998 about 54 km2 of Glen Devon was examined and several new survey techniques were brought to bear. GPS (Global Positioning System) was used to ensure the metrical accuracy of the survey as a whole, providing control for a photogrammetric plot of the archaeological remains visible on post-1945 vertical aerial photographs. This basic level of mapping was checked and enhanced in the field.
Medieval and later settlement and landuse remains dominate the field archaeology of Glen Devon, but several earlier monuments also came to light. The latter include: a 12m diameter burial-cairn of probable of Bronze Age date; a subrectangular dun and a circular stone-walled enclosure of later prehistoric or early historic date; and a barrow enclosed by a bank, which may be compared with burial monuments elsewhere of supposedly of Pictish date. Shieling-huts predominate amongst the buildings of the later landscape, generally scattered in small groups up side valleys, but in one case a group comprising more than 50 structures was identified. Several large, round-ended, turf-walled buildings of potentially medieval date were identified, as well as a small number of later farmsteads.
Of particular interest are five late 17th and 18th-century laird's houses, which demonstrate the wealth of this area 200-300 years ago. At this time cattle played a significant role in the local economy and Glen Devon was an important route to Falkirk market. Amongst the later landuse remains on the hillsides there are extensive areas of enclosed grazing, and relatively little ground was under cultivation before the 19th century.
RCAHMS (DES 1998, 110-1)
