Hopecarton Burn

NT13SW 40 centred 1275 3076.

(NT 127 308 - NT 139 306) Cultivation terraces are situated above the track from Easter Stanhope to Hopecarton, between the Hopekist Burn and the Hopecarton Burn. Also from the N end of this group eastwards for 3/4 mile up the left bank of the Hopecarton Burn.

RCAHMS 1967, visited 1962.

There are three definite cultivation terraces with indistinct traces of others measuring up to 12m in width and 2.5m in height. At NT 127 308 there are three slight terraces which are probably contemporary with rig-and-furrow cultivation.

Visited by OS (IA) 4 September 1972.

A complex group of buildings and cultivation remains extend across the N and W slopes of Hopekist Rig. The sequence by which the various elements were formed is not entirely certain, but they are best treated in approximate chronological order.

The earliest remains that can be identified with certainty on the hillside are the traces of broad curving rig, some of it running along the contour, other across the contour. The majority of the broad rig running along the contour lies on the gentler slopes above the improved fields at the W end of the site. In many cases here the individual rigs have developed into low terraces. These rigs and terraces are overlain by a single bank, which runs across this part of the hill from E to W, and also by the remains of a building which sits on one of the terraces but is itself cut by the new forestry road (NT 1279 3081). Probably of similar date are two other buildings to the SW (NT 1277 3076 and NT 1274 3077), which, in view of the episode of broad ridging, are unlikely to be the remains of earlier buildings on the hillside. These buildings are of considerable interest; the two intact examples have rounded ends and measure 16m by 7m and 14.5m by 8.3m respectively over walls reduced to low banks spread up to 2.5m in thickness by 0.3m in maximum height. The westerly of these two is notable for its scooped floor which has been dug up to 0.4m into the slope. The easterly of the two appears to be clipped by the narrower ridged cultivation which is visible extending over the broad rig and the terraces on the lower slopes of the hill.

At one point these rigs also appear to be overlain by a plot of very narrow rigs. Beyond the stone dyke further up the slope to the E there are also traces of grooves at approximately 5m intervals overlying one of the blocks of broad ridging; this is probably the result of a short-lived episode of 19th century improvements broadly contemporary with the construction of the stone dyke.

Several other elements on this hillside cannot be fitted into this sequence. Amongst them there are heavily-robbed fragments of two stone-founded buildings, one partly enclosed by a stony bank, to the SW of the other three buildings (NT 1275 3074 and NT 1273 3069). More spectacular, however, are the cultivation terraces that run back into the forestry on the N flank of Hopekist Rig. Characterised by narrow treads and steep risers they clearly reflect an entirely different episode of cultivation to that represented by the terraces lower down the slope. At two points banks can be traced across the slope between terraces. These cultivation terraces extend up into the immediate vicinity of the settlement of ring-ditch houses on the shoulder of Hopekist Rig, but no chronological relationship can be established between the settlement and the terraces.

Visited by RCAHMS (SH) 6 September 1990.