Normangill

RCAHMS surveyed this site by plane-table on 5 August 1959 at a scale of 1mm:1ft during a survey of marginal land. The resultant plan was redrawn in ink in 1974 and published at a reduced size in the County Inventory of Lanarkshire (RCAHMS 1978, Figure 31).

NS92SE 11 9725 2212

(NS 9725 2212) Henge (NR)

OS 6" map (1962)

This henge was in a similar condition when seen in 1959.

Visited by OS (WDJ) 20 July 1959.

NS 972 221. This Class II henge is situated 480m S of Normangill farmhouse, overlooking the left bank of the Camps Water from a height of 280m OD. The public road from Crawford to the Camps Reservoir has been driven transversely through it, thereby destroying a central strip 10.7m wide. The surviving portions of the bank and internal ditch are, however, relatively well preserved, and the two opposing entrances are still clearly visible.

Oval on plan, the henge measures 61m by 55m from crest to crest of the bank, with the longer axis aligned about 17 W of N. The bank is now not more than 0.7m high and, as revealed in section by the road, is composed predominately of earth. The construction of a circular turf sheepfold has removed the SW end of the bank. The ditch, which is separated from the inner edge of the bank by a berm 3.0m in average width, is at present about 4.0m wide and 0.3m deep. At both entrances the gap in the bank measures about 23m in width, and that in the ditch about 17m in width. The interior is featureless.

RCAHMS 1978, visited August 1975.

Unfortunately, this classic later Neolithic ritual monument was not discovered until after the track of the railway (now the public road) had been driven through its centre; nevertheless it remains one of Scotland's best examples of a henge. It consists of an oval enclosure measuring 40m by 35m within a ditch 4m across and up to 0.3m deep, which is separated from its accompanying bank by a wide berm. The opposing entrances, which are unusually broad, lie on the north-north-west and south-south-east respectively. Originally, there may have been a setting of large timber posts placed close to the lip of the ditch, leaving an open area at the centre where the rituals would have been performed. On the south-west a recent turf sheepfold has been built over the terminal of the west bank.

Information from ‘Exploring Scotland’s Heritage: The Clyde Estuary and Central Region’, (1985).