Lochurr

NX78NE 34 76 85

NX78NE 34.01 NX 761 855 Field-system; Shieling-hut

NX78NE 34.02 NX 75 85 Shieling-huts (Nith 328)

NX78NE 34.03 NX 76 85 Burnt Mounds (Nith 25, 26, 330, 332-335)

NX78NE 34.04 NX 7570 8556 Hut-Circle, (possible) (Nith 338)

NX78NE 34.05 NX 7611 8587 Homestead, (possible); Buildings (Nith 328)

On the SW and W sides of Lochurr Hill there is a spread of archaeological remains with buildings and agricultural remains situated on the better-drained ground and a scatter of burnt mounds located in and on the edges of the boggy ground. In places some crude attempts have been made at improvement but generally the latest phase of landuse is represented by patches of rig.

Visited by RCAHMS (DCC) 23 March 1992

This archaeological landscape lies on the west side of Lochurr Hill to the north and north-west of Lochurr farm, occupying ground that rises from about 200m to just under 300m OD. There are areas of blanket peat on the flatter ground to the west of this area, but the only deep peat on Lochurr Hillis confined to gullies, and it appears that this gently-rising ground was preferred for settlement in antiquity, although the possibility remains that there are monuments buried under deep peat on the flatter ground to the west. In contrast with Brockloch and the Skelston Burn, Lochurr Hill lies outwith the main valleys, where the majority of settlement was concentrated, at least in historic times and probably also in prehistory; it is possible that this area may always have been marginal to the main settlements, with its occupation characterised by episodic, and perhaps relatively less intensive, settlement.

The farming and settlement remains span at least four millennia and, those of the prehistoric period include burnt mounds, a hut-circle (A on Fig. 16), a heavily-robbed homestead (B), a scatter of small cairns, and a field-system. Post prehistoric and pre-Improvement activity is represented by shieling-huts, possibly some of the burnt mounds, and the rig, while the post-Improvement monuments (i.e., those depicted on the first edition of the OS 6-inch map) comprise a square sheepfold (C) and a series of drystone walls.

The only probable permanent prehistoric settlement is represented by a single hut-circle and a possible homestead, but even allowing for attrition by later land-use, these monuments are not accompanied by the richness of structural remains that can be seen at Brockloch and along the Skelston Burn. Likewise, the present farm at Lochurr, although probably of medieval origin, is isolated from its neighbours, in contrast to the relatively dense distribution of sites along the Glenesslin Burn.

The area of presumably prehistoric field-system on the southwest of Lochurr Hill does suggest a prolonged period of activity, of sufficient intensity to produce lynchets up to 1m in height and with at least two, and possibly three, phases represented by the sequential cross-contour banks overlying one of the lynchets.

RCAHMS 1994