Gorton House
Rock Carving(S) (Post Medieval)(Possible)
Site Name Gorton House
Classification Rock Carving(S) (Post Medieval)(Possible)
Canmore ID 51807
Site Number NT26SE 18
NGR NT 28027 63239
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/51807
- Council Midlothian
- Parish Lasswade
- Former Region Lothian
- Former District Midlothian
- Former County Midlothian
NT26SE 18 2802 6324
A most unusual, well-preserved series of carvings occur on the vertical faces of a shallow recess on an almost inaccessible rock ledge above the River Esk, 30 yds N of Wallace's Cave (NT26SE 19) and 8 yds below it. Circles, spirals, triangles, on S-motif, a shield and other geometric marks and grooves are incised on the rock. These figures are quite unlike the more normal Bronze Age markings, and may be of a different date (J N G Ritchie and A Ritchie 1972).
V G Childe and J Taylor 1939; R W B Morris 1969; R W B Morris 1981; J N G Ritchie and A Ritchie 1972.
NT 2802 6324. It was not possible to examine the scribings closely as they are situated in a precipitous cliff. Approach from the E bank of the river was not possible, but the marks can be clearly seen from the opposite bank, and are well-preserved.
Visited by OS (JLD) 3 September 1954
Although these markings could not be located, various photographs, in the possession of Mr Taylor show some to resemble markings of Bronze Age date, i.e. rings and grooves, but no cups.
Visited by OS (SFS) 29 October 1975.
Field Visit (1938)
Photographed and described by Childe.
V G Childe and J Taylor 1939
Note (1988)
Hawthornden NT 2802 6324 17 NT26SE 18
These carvings, which are almost inaccessible, are visible on the sides of a shallow recess above a ledge on the cliff that forms the E side of the River Esk gorge near Hawthornden. They include cupmarks, ring-marks, and spirals, but there are also a series of angular designs. The artificial cave known as Wallace's Cave lies immediately to the S.
RCAHMS 1988
(Childe and Taylor 1939, 316-18; Ritchie and Ritchie 1972, 31-2; Morris 1981, 147-50)
Note (16 September 2021)
Date Fieldwork Started: 16/09/2021
Compiled by: ScRAP
Location Notes: The carvings are as described in the previous records. They are difficult to access and record. The carvings are on several vertical faces of the rock shelter, and on the sloping surface close to its base. The motifs are pecked and fresh-looking, and there is no evidence that they have a prehistoric origin. They include a range of forms as described in the previous Canmore record. They are similar to Passage Tomb/Megalithic Art motifs, more commonly found within Neolithic burial monuments, such as in Newgrange and other passage tombs in the Boyne Valley, Ireland. It is highly likely that these carvings are 18th-19th century replicas, forming part of the other curiosities carved on outcrops within Roslin Glen, such as the triple spiral on a vertical, rock-cut face on the stairway leading down to the rock shelter and Wallace's Cave. Roslin Glen was a well-known tourist destination in the 18th and 19th centuries, and the carvings at Gorton House may tie in to antiquarian and public interest in the prehistoric carvings at Newgrange, which were first discovered in 1699.
