Edinburgh, Holyrood Park, Haggis Knowe
Cultivation Terrace(S) (Period Unassigned)
Site Name Edinburgh, Holyrood Park, Haggis Knowe
Classification Cultivation Terrace(S) (Period Unassigned)
Alternative Name(s) Queen's Park
Canmore ID 52290
Site Number NT27SE 27
NGR NT 27450 73723
NGR Description Centred NT 2743 7374
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/52290
- Council Edinburgh, City Of
- Parish Edinburgh (Edinburgh, City Of)
- Former Region Lothian
- Former District City Of Edinburgh
- Former County Midlothian
NT27SE 27 centred 2743 7374
There are cultivation terraces on the NE face of Haggis Knowe (NT 274 737). At the bottom of the slope there are three long terraces, and above them some shorter and less well-marked terraces and shelves.
RCAHMS 1951.
Centred NT 2743 7373: Two pronounced terraces on lower slopes of hill, with faint traces of others higher up-not easily defined.
Visited by OS (J L D) 28 December 1953.
(NT 2743 7374) These terraces are generally as described by previous field report. Faint traces can be seen of others lower down towards St Margaret's Loch as well as the ones higher up Haggis Knowe. Not a good example.
Visited by OS (S F S) 2 December 1975.
The cultivation terraces that adorn the NE face of Haggis Knowe are plotted at 1:5,550 on an archaeological map of Holyrood Park (RCAHMS 1999). The terraces vary in definition, the uppermost being shorter and less pronounced, but the best preserved measure between 3.3m and 3.8m in breadth and between 2m and 3m in height. The terraces are the result of ploughing along the slope, and, where they descend to the flatter ground adjacent to St Margaret's Loch, they become indistinguishable from rig-and-furrow cultivation. The CFA record the presence of at least three rigs to the NE of Haggis Knowe, aligned from NE to SW and extending for a distance of some 100m; these were not located during the course of the RCAHMS survey.
Visited by RCAHMS (ARG), 15 December 1998
NMRS, MS/726/96 (46-7, 60, nos. 26 and 50); RCAHMS 1999.
Publication Account (1951)
211. Cultivation Terraces, King's Park.
Cultivation terraces are to be seen at the following places in the King's Park:
(i) [NT27SE 76, NT27SE 77 and NT27SE 135] On the E. slopes of Arthur's Seat, both above and below the Queen’s Drive. An account of these very striking group has already been published in the Inventory of Midlothian (1).
(ii) [NT27SE 102] To S. and E. of Dunsapie Fort (2) and extending E. of the fort outside the boundary wall of the Park [NT27SE 102]. (iii) [NT27SE 97] Immediately below the southernmost outcrop of the Echoing Rock; only the ends of two narrow terraces appear here, but it is possible that the broad rigs that cover the lower parts of this slope may have obliterated a group perhaps once comparable with those at Dunsapie.
(iv) [NT27SE 27] On the N.E. face of Haggis Knowe. At the bottom of the slope there are three long terraces, and above them some shorter and less well marked terraces and shelves.
RCAHMS 1951, visited c.1941
(1) No. 11. Cf. also P.S.A.S., lxxiii (1938-9), pp.289 ff., and lxxxi (1946-7), pp. 159 ff.
(2) Inventory of Midlothian and West Lothian, No. 10.
OS Map: Midlothian iii N.E. and S.E
Condition Survey (February 1996)
The lowest terrace is c. 1.5m high and 2.5m wide, while the second is 2-3m high and 4-5m wide. Above the well-defined, lowest two terraces there are the residual remains of another 4 - 5 terraces. A number of tracks run up the north-east side of Haggis Knowe and are often used for sledging in winter, leading to gradual erosion in these areas.
Information from Derek Alexander (Centre for Field Archaeology, University of Edinburgh) February 1997, no.26
Alexander 1997
Field Visit (15 December 1998)
The cultivation terraces that adorn the NE face of Haggis Knowe are plotted at 1:5,550 on an archaeological map of Holyrood Park (RCAHMS 1999). The terraces vary in definition, the uppermost being shorter and less pronounced, but the best preserved measure between 3.3m and 3.8m in breadth and between 2m and 3m in height. The terraces are the result of ploughing along the slope, and, where they descend to the flatter ground adjacent to St Margaret's Loch, they become indistinguishable from rig-and-furrow cultivation. The CFA record the presence of at least three rigs to the NE of Haggis Knowe, aligned from NE to SW and extending for a distance of some 100m; these were not located during the course of the RCAHMS survey.
Visited by RCAHMS (ARG), 15 December 1998
NMRS, MS/726/96 (46-7, 60, nos. 26 and 50); RCAHMS 1999.
Condition Survey (12 March 2018 - 15 April 2018)
The 2018 CFA Archaeology Ltd condition survey found the site as described by Alexander (1997).
Information from Graeme Carruthers (CFA Archaeology Ltd) July 2018. OASIS ID: cfaarcha1-317194, no.26
Alexander 1997
