Fasset Hill

NT82SW 41 from 84874 20361 to 84961 20347

(NT 84925 20359) Homestead (NR)

OS 6" map, (1962).

This homestead, 110 yds E of NT82SW 18, is roughly rectangular, 100' N-S by 170' within a boulder-faced rubble wall. Except at the entrance on the E side, where it is 10'3" thick, the enclosure wall is badly decayed, but its general outline is marked by intermittent facing stones as shown on the RCAHMS 1956 plan, fig.463. The E entrance is 10' wide, and the interior is divided by a ruined wall into two courts of roughly equal size, each of which has ben excavated into the hill-slope on the higher, N side to give a level floor. Access to the W court is provided by an entrance in the centre of the dividing wall, but any original structures in this court have been obliterated by a modern sheep-stell. In the SE corner of the E court, however, there are foundations of two buildings. The larger of these, which is sub-oval on plan, measures 30' x 18' internally, and has an entrance 5' wide on the W side, may be original since its N side is bounded by an extension of the main wall of the enclosure. The rectangular building, 22' x 11' internally, appears to be intrusive since its debris overlies the line of the enclosure wall on the S. Each court has a slight terrace on the N side in the angle formed by the junction of the enclosure and dividing walls. Immediately outside the homestead on the W side there are two contiguous scooped hollows. It is suggested (RCAHMS 1956) that this homestead was originally built in the Romano-British period, and was reoccupied in medieval times, contemporary with the nearby stone-revetted cultivation terraces (NT82SW 40).

RCAHMS 1956, visited 1945.

This homestead is as described above.

Visited by OS (WDJ) 17 August 1960.

No change to previous field report.

RCAHMS plan revised.

Visited by OS (RD) 14 June 1968.

No change.

Visited by OS (TRG) 12 August 1976.

No change.

Surveyed at 1:2500.

Visited by OS (ISS) 18 September 1979.

At least three periods of activity are focused upon an artificially levelled platform on the moderate S-facing slope of Fasset Hill above which the gradient becomes steep. The earliest period, representing the full extent of the site, comprises a large platform, measuring 57m from E to W overall by 26m, levelled into the slope. The rear scarp is well defined and stands to over 3m in height whilst the front scarp has been accentuated by a road terraced along the hillside. There is no evidence for an enclosing bank along the top of this scarp. Two contiguous scooped hollows lie to the W. The level interior of the E hollow measures 11m from E to W by 10m and that of the W hollow measures 14m from N to S by 10m. A further hollow, which lies immediately E of these and is partly overlain by a sheepfold, measures 12m in diameter across the level interior. Further slight scarps within the sheepfold probably represent other divisions. There are also three small subcircular platforms, ranging from 6m to 8m, in the centre of, and to the rear of the settlement which are crossed by a later bank. This bank forms the W side of a small scooped settlement occupying the E part of the original site. This enclosure measures 28m from N to S by 24m within banks spread up to 2m in width and standing up to 0.4m in height. Facing stones are visible in places. At the base of the back scarp on the E side, there is a 3.5m wide entrance gap, to the S of which is a prominent sub-oval stone-walled hut. It measures 7m from N to S by 6m within stone walls up to 2.5m in width and 0.5m in height and has an entrance in the W wall. Immediately to the W on the crest of the front scarp, there is a smaller rectangular hut measuring 7m from E to W by 3m within stony banks up to 3m in width. A third phase of activity is represented by the subsequent reuse of the W part of the terrace by a stone-built sheepfold which measures up to 23m in diameter. The entrance, on the S, opens onto the front scarp of the terrace.

Information from RJ Mercer (University of Edinburgh) 22 March 1987

RCAHMS MS 2598, No. 27/372