Martin Glen

NS26NW 9 2287 6710 to 2285 6705.

NS 228 671. Round houses: On the N bank of the Martin Glen Burn, and S of a lesser tributary to the latter is a round house, 29ft to 30ft overall, contained by a 6ft wide earth and stone wall with a wide entrance on SE. Immediately W is an oval structure, recessed, with an entrance in the narrow W end and 12ft x 6ft within.

N of the lesser tributary is a second round house, 33ft - 35ft over a 4ft wide wall, with an entrance in the SE.

F Newall 1970

The largest, most northerly round house was excavated. It measured 11.0m over a wall consisting of a lower tier of upcast subsoil contained as a bank between boulder kerbs and 1.6m to 2.7m wide on the downslope side. An outer low bank of upcast surrounding the site suggests that it was scooped.

An upper tier of walling, heavily kerbed, rests on the lower, but not concentrically with it. Nine of the inner kerb stones arranged symmetrically, were deliberately sloped, perhaps to support roof struts, and on either side of the entrance the wall thickened to 1.2m and was much heavier. The entrance had a threshold slab and step; it was 0.6m wide. From it a paved way led to an inner oval space surrounded by a palisade trench, and to recesses on either side of the entrance, formed by expansions of the wall and central area. Further stone radii, associated with post holes, and accompanied by slight out-bowing of the wall suggests that the corridor was subdivided. The inner area was

3.8m x 3.3m. From the central space, which contained hearth and upright hob stones, came a quartz hammer stone, numerous quartz flakes, some worked, and several cores; six flints, including a microlith and a broken knife; and a crumb of black pottery. A slightly kerbed oval area on the upcast bank just outside the entrance is presently being examined. Further quartz fragments, two quartz hammerstones, and one sherd of buff coated black ware have been recovered.

To the N between the Skelmorlie Burn and a lesser N tributary is a turf-mound "round" enclosure, 11.6m x 10.0m. A section across the smaller round house to the S showed that the wall was of the same tiered construction, but, in the floor of solid rock, the palisade trench was replaced by shallow sockets. Quartz fragments again predominate.

Some 15.0m E of this house is a larger one, 9.4m overall.

F Newall 1971

Excavations at this site indicate a probable Late Bronze Age - Early Iron Age date.

F Newall 1976

NS 2287 6710. The northern, fully excavated, hut circle is generally as described, and is situated on a low moorland promontory within the angle of two gullies at approximately 228m OD.

Completely stripped by the excavation, its simple boulder wall construction shows an internal diameter of 8.5 by 8.0m, but detail of the interior 'floor' is obscured by silting. The W side has been levelled into the natural and there is the suggestion of collapsed revetting stones on this arc. The setting of the oval or rectangular mound adjacent to the house appears incongruous, and its proximity may be more relevant to a later shieling environment and possible re-use of the house. Measuring 6.0 by 2.5m and 0.3m high, its slightly dished interior and stony 'walls' suggest it is a building.

The second 'round house' lies approximately 50m to the S on the edge of a gully at NS 2285 6705. This heavily denuded and turf-covered feature can only be estimated as an oval or subrectangular structure 10m E-W by 8m transversely over a stony wall some 2m wide. There is no trace of the stated trenching, and apart from the SE-facing entrance, it appears to have little similarity in construction or appearance with the above hut circle. Its assessment is further complicated by the contrasting forms of two adjacent features; on the W is the 'oval structure' which is not a building but a shallow artificial trough 0.2m deep, and on the E is a levelled, rectangular building platform 7m E-W by 4m transversely.

In all, most of the features described by Newall could be consistent with a post-medieval shieling landscape and only the excavated hut circle can, at this time, be assessed with any certainty.

Hut circle surveyed at 1:10,000.

Visited by OS (JRL) 23 February 1983