Mid Gleniron
Cairnfield (Prehistoric), Hut Circle (Prehistoric)
Site Name Mid Gleniron
Classification Cairnfield (Prehistoric), Hut Circle (Prehistoric)
Canmore ID 61598
Site Number NX16SE 18
NGR NX 19187 62353
NGR Description Centre
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/61598
- Council Dumfries And Galloway
- Parish New Luce
- Former Region Dumfries And Galloway
- Former District Wigtown
- Former County Wigtownshire
NX16SE 18 1918 6240.
(NX 191622) Cairns (NR) (Nine shown)
OS 6" map (1957)
A group of cairn-like mounds, some domical, others low and concave with a diameter of from 12' to 15'. Where the slope of the hill is gradual, and the surface free from rock, they stretch for a long way to the north.
RCAHMS 1912, visited 1911
On a gentle surfacing slope are about a dozen clearance cairns the largest of which is 5.0m in diameter and 0.7m high. Although of the heather has been burnt off recently there is no trace of any field walls or lynchets.
Visited by OS (BS) 10 May 1976
A hut circle is situated within a group of small cairns which extends along the W flank of Gleniron Fell for a distance of about 500m to the N of Mirren's Croft and measures 5.5m in diameter within a stony bank 1.3m thick and between 0.2m and 0.4m high; its entrance is on the SSE. About forty small cairns are visible, the majority situated on the gentle slope immediately N of Mirren's Croft, an old field of relatively recent date; a few are scattered along a natural terrace to the N of the hut circle. The cairns vary from 2m to 4m in diameter and the largest are about 0.5m in height. At least one stony bank is visible amongst the cairns between the hut-circle and Mirren' s Croft.
RCAHMS 1987, visited (SH) 17 June 1986
Field Visit (April 2022 - June 2022)
NX 19184 62400 The 1986 Canmore entry for Mid-Gleniron (Canmore ID: 61598) mentions the ‘natural terrace to the N of the hut circle’ and notes clearance cairns in this area and around the hut circle. Some more context for the site and the terrace is instructive.
Compared with the good quality grazing in the Mirrens Croft ‘bowl’ (Canmore ID: 61659) and the particularly good quality natural grazing on the W flank of Bennan Hill to the N, the grazing quality in the area around the hut circle is quite poor, possibly a reason why the site and clearance cairns have survived. However, the terrace context for the site places it on a natural pathway between the two areas.
Proceeding from an entrance at the NE corner of the Mirren’s Croft enclosure at NX 19103 62112, a natural gully leads up to the bowl edge at NX 19153 62276 and paths lead down to the start of the terrace at NX 19139 62319 and thence along to the hut circle at NX 19184 62400. Proceeding N along the terrace leads to a gateway in the farm march at NX 19194 62607. This is also the point at which a drystone dyke at the march ends and a fence begins, so farm features coincide with a natural route. The terrace leads along the contour via a point at NX 19436 62959 to a point at the top of the Bennan Hill Fields and the end of the terrace at NX 19581 63223. An obvious route then leads down to a gateway on the Southern Upland Way at NX 19608 63558.
The relatively isolated setting of the hut circle is then placed in
a connecting route context, suggesting that the resource base for the inhabitants may have extended beyond the immediate locality of the hut. The natural eminence of the scarp above the hut to the E is also noted.
Archive: Dumfries and Galloway HER
Alistair Buckoke
(Source: DES Volume 23)
Field Visit (23 March 2022)
The location, classification and period of this site have been reviewed and changed from CAIRNFIELD (PERIOD UNASSIGNED), HUT CIRCLE (PREHISTORIC).
