Muir

NS65NW 6 6132 5777.

(NS 6132 5777) Earthwork (NR)

OS 1:10,000 map, (1976)

Enclosure, Muir: This circular enclosure (see plan), bounded by a ditch some 5.5m in width and up to 1m in depth, is situated on hgih moorland 240m NW of Muir. It is now used as a green on the Cathkin Braes golf course, and the W and S sides have been partly incorporated in a small plantation. The entrance on the E appears to be original. The interior has been artificially raised in height and stands about 1m above the surrounding ground (RCAHMS 1978).

Opinions vary as to the period and purpose of this monument. Feachem (1965) implies that it is an Iron Age homestead, while Talbot (1974) suggests that it is a ringwork castle - that of 'Henry, son of Anselm', who gave Carmunnock church to Paisley Abbey about 1180. (On the basis that the diameters are similar, Welsh (nd.) asserts that this is the site of Queen Mary's Cairn - NS65NW 23. This theory is not widely supported).

R W Feachem 1965; E Talbot 1974; RCAHMS 1978, visited 1973; T C Welsh nd.

for further details of Dr. T C Welsh's survey, see MS/737/7 and MS/737/12

This earthwork was in a similar condition to that described by the RCAHMS when seen in 1959. A second causeway over the ditch, in the SE, was considered to be the result of mutilation.

Resurveyed at 1:2500.

Visited by OS (A C) 15 August 1959.

A soil and shadow feature on Cathkin Brae Golf Course attached to the rim of the known large enclosure at NS 6132 5777 was identified from aerial photograhs in the NMRS collections. This large enclosure has been variously described as a possible earthwork castle (Talbot E, 1973) and as a possible site of the very large 'Queen Mary's cairn' whose destruction was recorded by a local historian Reverand Ure in the 1790s (Welsh, T C, notes on NMRS record card). The new site is a circular ditched feature 22m in diameter overall, the ditch 2.5m broad and containing a rectangular central feature 2m by 1m, probably a burial (photo AP F22 0045 24.11.54).

Sponsor: City of Glasgow Council (Parks and Recreation).

D Topen 1995