Hall Of Auchincross
Natural Feature (Period Unknown)
Site Name Hall Of Auchincross
Classification Natural Feature (Period Unknown)
Alternative Name(s) 'Court Hill'
Canmore ID 43521
Site Number NS51SE 2
NGR NS 5834 1407
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/43521
- Council East Ayrshire
- Parish New Cumnock
- Former Region Strathclyde
- Former District Cumnock And Doon Valley
- Former County Ayrshire
NS51SE 2 5834 1407.
(NS 5840 1405) Court Knowe (NR)
OS 6" map (1910)
There was a court knowe near the Hall of Auchincross, on which criminals are said to have been tried by the laird of Auchincross. It was probably a rocky eminence as no artificial knoll was found.
J Smith 1895; Name Book 1856
NS 5834 1407. A small irregular outcrop in a sloping field, with no appearance of antiquity, though growing crops prevented close inspection.
Visited by OS (JFC) 14 July 1954
Court Knowe: name verified. A low, rounded knoll, roughly 30m by 20m, under pasture. The farmer at Hall of Auchincross states that its profile was once sharper but that it has been reduced in recent years through land improvement. Nothing has been found.
Visited by OS (JL) 2 November 1981
Field Visit (1 June 2008 - 1 September 2009)
Little Rigend Castle stands in a field beside the River Nith. It was the baronial residence of the Cathcart family.
Previous excavations at the site have onfused its appearance, but a basic
rectilinear form can be made out.
Recorded by an Ordnance Survey field investigator in 1980 as an amorphous earth and stone mound, which is up to 0.5m high, which was partially excavated in 1978-9. The main exposed feature is a 12.0m long, 1.0m wide and up to 1.4m high wall which is oriented NE-SW. Central to this and at right angles there is a 3.2m length of similar walling. A fragment of curvilinear walling adjacent to this wall may be part of a stair tower.
Information from OASIS ID: cfaarcha1-74267 (G Mudie) 2009
Desk Based Assessment (13 September 2011 - 23 January 2012)
A Cultural Heritage assessment for the proposed Greenburn Surface Mine Wellhill Extension developmentforming part of an Environmental Statement, was submitted in 2012. The Cultural Heritage assessment identifies all historic environment features within the development area (through desk-based assessment and field survey), and key external receptors up to 2km from the proposed development. An assessment of the direct and indirect impacts of the development on these features is included.
Information from George Mudie (CFA Archaeology Ltd) January 2012.
OASIS ID: cfaarcha1-140197
Field Visit (13 September 2011 - 23 January 2012)
The SMR and NMRS record that the Name Book (1856) records that there was a court knowe near the Hall of Auchincross, on which criminals are said to have been tried by the laird of Auchincross. The tradition that the knoll served as a court mound supports the suggestion that Hall of Auchincross was not only a laird's dwelling, but also the administrative centre of the estate.
A field visit by the Ordnance Survey in 1954 identified a small irregular outcrop in a sloping field. A further visit by the Ordnance Survey in 1981 iidentified a low rounded knoll, c.30m x 20m and under pasture. The farmer at Hall of Auchincross stated that the knoll's profile was once sharper but that it had been reduced during recent years through land improvement.
Survey in 1995 by AOC recorded that the mound survives to approximately 3m in height and that the landowner stated that when ploughed the mound appears to consist of sandstone rubble, and is therefore 'probably man-made'.
The possibility that the mound was originally a prehistoric burial mound cannot be discounted. The name ‘Court Knowe’ is annotated on the Ordnance Survey 1st, 2nd and 3rd Edition maps (1860, 18987 and 1910). The location of the mound is now within an area of former opencast working and no longer survives.
Information from George Mudie (CFA Archaeology Ltd) January 2012.
OASIS ID: cfaarcha1-140197
