Glenrath

NT23SW 7 2140 3390.

(NT 2140 3390) Settlement (NR)

OS 6" map (1965)

This settlement measures 140' x 110' within a wall which has been heavily robbed to provide material for the plantation-dyke that encroaches on the NW side of the site. Four inner facing-stones remain in situ on the SE side; elsewhere, however, only the small sotnes belonging to the core of the wall survive, appearing either as turf-covered stony banks or as mere scarps.

The entrance lay within the broad gap that now exists on the SW. On the E, the wall branches into two parts to form an annexe-like enclosure at the NW end. The purpose of this feature is uncertain and without exacavation it is impossible to tell whether or not it represents a reconstruction. It is noticeable, however, that the area so enclosed is not wide enough to accommodate houses of normal size, and it may therefore have been used for stock.

Within the remainder of the interior, the level of which falls 10' from SE to NW, there are six house-platforms arranged in two tiers, each tier consisting of three platforms. The E range of platforms has been excavated into the hill-side to depths of up to 8'.

Immediately above the settlement to the SE, there is a group of cultivation terraces which form part of the system noted under NT23SW 33. The lowest terrace follows the curve of the settlement wall on the SE and appears, in fact, to overlie it.

A short distance to the SW of the settlement, a grass-covered stony bank, 5' in thickness and not more than 1'6" in height, extends down the hill-side from the foot of the lowest terrace for a distance of 115'. This bank has almost certainly been a field boundary, and it is possible that it was contemporary with the settlement. (Information from A McLaren notebook 2, 99)

RCAHMS 1967, visited 1964

This settlement is generally as described. Although all six platforms are distinguishable, only the upper three are surveyable. The lower interior shows signs of disturbance.

Revised at 1:2500.

Visited by OS (BS) 15 October 1974