Hownam Burn

NT71NE 47 7924 1980.

NT 793 198: Scooped Enclosure, Hownam Burn. Two simple enclosurs lie 400 yds below and NE of Hownam Rings (NT71NE 1), at a height of 800' O D, and 150' above the Hownam Burn. The whole of this slope is lined with both horizontal and vertical rigs, both of which have encroached upon the enclosures.

'A': The northernmost enclosure is a circular scooped court, 50' in diameter, scarped back into the hillside and walled in front by a low earthen bank, the entrance in which is defined on each side by a

boulder in situ.

'B': The other enclosure lies 25yds to the SE beyond some disturbed and uneven ground. It consists of two scooped courts, the upper 30' in diameter and the lower, which is of irregular shape, measuring up to 100' x 50'. A low earthen bank runs round from the back of the upper court to half way down the SE side of the lower one, overlying an older field boundary. A short length of earthen bank, with two gaps in it, closes the rest of the open side of the lower court.

RCAHMS 1956, visited 1947.

'A' - at NT 7926 1978 - is a probable homestead which is as described. 'B' - at NT 7926 1977 - consists of two irregular deep scoops which have been caused by quarrying and are enclosed by upcast debris.

Visited by OS (IA) 25 July 1973.

NT 7924 1980. The close proximity and similar scooped character of both areas A and B suggest that they are part of a single settlement. The disturbed ground between them shows traces of at least one low scarp linking both areas.

The upper court of area B has a semi-circular depression of a probable hut, 7.0m in diameter, with two small stones on the rim.

There is no trace of an earlier overlaid bank on the E side. A modern drain now skirts this side, with traces of strip cultivation further to the E and S. No cultivation terraces were noted in the area.

Surveyed at 1:10,000.

Visited by OS (JRL) 23 October 1979.

This scooped enclosure is visible on a vertical air photograph, (OS 68/027/128, flown 1968).

Information from RCAHMS, 1997