Cairnhowit

Cairnhowit (DNB 5) NS 494 761 NS47NE 2

The wasted remains of this cairn are situated on moorland at a height of 275m OD. All that survives are one fallen and two upright stones, which may represent parts of the facade and an axial chamber, and a small amount of cairn material.

RCAHMS 1978, visited December 1977

(Henshall 1963-72, ii, 427-8)

NS 481 768 A walkover survey was carried out 8–18 March 2013 as part of the Forestry Commission’s management strategy. A total of 19 new sites were recorded including hut circles, small cairns, possible building platforms, grouse shooting butts, areas of rig and furrow and field boundaries. A condition survey was also undertaken on several key monuments on FCS land in the Kilpatrick Hills, including the chambered cairns at Cairnhowit and Gallangad Burn. The latter site had previously been reported as destroyed (RCAHMS 1978), but is in fact preserved at the originally cited NGR and remains in the state reported by Henshall (1972).

Archive: RCAHMS

Funder: Forest Enterprise Scotland

Graeme Cavers, AOC Archaeology Group, 2013

(Source: DES)

NS 47195 77313 - A ruinous boundary dyke 2m in width comprising stones up to 0.8m across on S side of Duncolm. The dyke runs WSW/ENE with shallow ditch on upslope side, terminating at the crags on the SE side of Duncolm to the E, and a modern dyke to the W.

NS 47146 77630 - An area of possible relict field system, comprising traces of narrow rig in thick sphagnum moss. Near invisible at ground level, though visible from Duncolm. Alignment is NE/SW, and not aligned with nearby forestry ploughing.

NS 47613 677046 - A low earthen bank forming a curvilinear enclosure SW of the confluence of two streams feeding Auchingree Burn. Visible on the ground as a very indistinct bank and possible associated ditch. Curvilinear enclosure forms a semicircle to the W of the burn, while a linear bank runs for 40m to the S. These banks probably relate to stock enclosure of the post-medieval period.

NS 47606 76742 - A hut circle, situated on a south facing slope at the end of a narrow ridge. The bank is visible as a low annular ridge, standing to c.0.4m in height and partly recessed into the slope on the N side. The diameter of the site is 10m; the entrance is not visible but may have been located to the S, on the downslope side where the bank is less prominent.

NS 47598 76758 - A small, circular mound of rubble 5m in diameter, situated 8m NW of hut circle AOC4. Probable clearance cairn, though date is difficult to estimate. May be associated with the prehistoric settlement in the vicinity.

NS 47552 76761 - An elongated oval mound 16m by 7m and 2m high, containing large boulders, possibly indicating the presence of cairn material. While this feature may be glacial in origin, the presence of rubble and the proximity to prehistoric features at AOC 4 and AOC 5 raises the possibility that this feature is a burial cairn.

NS 48113 76900 - A series of shallow, scooped platforms, averaging c.8m to

10m across occupy the S facing slope and crest of a low knoll NE of Craighirst. These possibly indicate the presence of recessed house platforms. At least 5 possible stances are visible.

NS 47950 76845 - Two recessed hut platforms occupy a low knoll N of Craighirst, one on the N-facing slope, the other on the S facing slope. Site A, to the N, measures 6m in diameter and is near circular, while site B, to the S, is slightly oval and larger at 7m across. Site B is visible as a patch of standard bog rushes around which is a low bank, 0.7m in width. No bank is visible around Site A. Smaller scoops to the SW of the knoll may indicate the presence of further platforms.

NS 47850 77326 - On north facing crest of ridge SE of Duncolm is a possible scooped and recessed house platform. A semi-circular platform 7m in diameter similar in character to better preserved examples in the area.

NS 47919 77419 - A rectangular building measuring 8 m by 6m and oriented E/W. The walls of the structure are 0.6m thick with a rubble core, with facing stones up to 0.6m across. A small cell has been built crudely in the SE corner in the rubble of the wall, though this is clearly secondary. The position of the entrance is not clear.

The location close to a small burn raises the possibility that the structure is a mill, though no features of such a building are visible.

NS 48293 77380 - Rubble located on rocky outcrop S of Auchingree Burn may indicate the presence of structures, possibly shielings. One sub-rectangular building is visible measuring 6m by 4m and rubble in vicinity, though much overgrown, suggests other buildings may be present.

NS 48372 76957 - A stony bank, 0.7m wide and standing to 0.3m in height

surrounds a recessed circular platform on a S facing slope. Visible as a patch of standard bog rushes, the stony bank can be identified through probing.

NS 48430 77019 - A small mound of boulders 6m in diameter, comprising

boulders up to 0.5m across. No structure is visible, and the extents of the cairn were largely identified by probing. Probable clearance cairn.

NS 48657 77007 - A ruinous pile of boulders up to 0.5m across has been disturbed by planting. While no structure is visible, it is possible that these stones represent the remains of a cairn; though site has been disturbed.

NS 48773 76745 - 10m plantation buffer, although damage has already

occurred through sapling plantation. It would be desirable to carry out excavation to record this site before further damage can be caused by tree growth.

NS 48781 76716 - A stony bank 0.8m in width and standing to 0.5m in height

defines a hut circle 8m in diameter, partially recessed into a W-facing slope to the E of Craighirst, c.30m S of AOC15. The bank incorporates several boulders up to 0.6m across, though both the interior of the site and the bank have been disturbed by sapling plantation. The position of the entrance is not apparent.

NS 43646 75851 - Semicircular drystone wall, 4m in diameter with an entrance to the SE. This grouse butt backs onto a turf covered bank and stands to 1.1m in height.

NS 43658 75889 - Turf covered grouse butt with entrance on SE. Stands to

1.3m in height.

NS 43660 75954 - Ruinous, turf covered grouse butt with entrance to SE.

Interior is rubble filled.

NS 49210 77400 - In clear ground to the N of the cliffs at Windyedge there are several short lengths of ruinous walling, forming an enclosure and possible further structures among rubble scree. There are no obvious buildings among the rubble though one length of walling extends NE from the cliff for a length of c.12m. Though identification is difficult, it is possible that these structures represent shielings of the historic centuries.

NS 45650 75310 - What may be the remains of a chambered cairn are situated on a N-facing shoulder to the NW of steep cliffs at Boglairoch. Very little to suggest the presence of a cairn survives, and the site is indicated only by the presence of a single large upright boulder, surrounded by smaller stones. This large upright stone measures 1.2m by 1.4m by 1.0m, with a flat face on what would be the inside of a chamber hinted at by the presence of three other large boulders, now displaced, located to the E and S. If these stones indicate the presence of a collapsed chamber, it would have measured c.3m in internal diameter, forming a polygonal cell. No entrance survives, but the most likely position for this would be on the SW.

If this site is a chambered cairn, it has been almost totally destroyed by stone robbing; extensive dykes and a fank to the NE and S could, perhaps, account for this. However, the general rubble scree surrounding the site makes confident identification impossible, and this site should be regarded as a possible cairn.

OASIS ID: aocarcha1-161712

NS 49440 76140 From 20-26 August 2019, a small excavation was undertaken of the possible Neolithic chambered cairn at Cairnhowit, by University of Glasgow staff and students as part of the University of Glasgow Archaeology Cochno Farm field school. Prior to excavation, two upright basalt monoliths and one recumbent conglomerate slab were visible at the site. A single trench measuring 7m by 5m was excavated surrounding these.

During the excavation, a large sub-circular cut was identified surrounding the two remaining upright monoliths. The stones were set at right angles to each other within this cut, which was interpreted as a stone-hole; it had been filled with redeposited natural, making it very difficult to distinguish. To the N and E of the monoliths was an area of angular stones; these were interpreted as the remnants of cairn material although only surviving in an area extending approximately 1 x 2m. The recumbent slab visible before the excavation was found to overlie this cairn material, suggesting that the stone had been upright – either as a monolith, or possibly as a capstone – and had fallen or been toppled onto the cairn material, although no cut associated with this stone was identified during the excavation. To the east of the monoliths was found a small area of compact stones which may represent a surface, although this was isolated within the trench and only a small area was exposed during the excavation. The extant standing stones and recumbent slab, and the immediately surrounding cairn material, were recorded using photogrammetry. The surface of the monoliths was naturally weathered to create a distinctive ‘criss-cross’ appearance, and the stones may have been selected from the local area deliberately for their striking appearance. The setting of the two monoliths at right angles to each other, and the surrounding cairn material, seems consistent with Audrey Henshall’s interpretation of the site as representing the portal stones of a chambered cairn. The limited extent of surviving cairn material suggests that the site may have been truncated or disturbed, perhaps by post-medieval agricultural activity although any traces of this have been obscured by modern forestry. No artefactual remains associated with the cairn were recovered. Samples were taken from sealed contexts beneath the monoliths which contained charcoal and from which it may be possible to obtain a radiocarbon date.

Archive: NRHE (intended)

Funder: University of Glasgow

Rebecca Younger and Yvonne Robertson - University of Glasgow and AOC Archaeology

(Source: DES, Volume 20)