RCAHMS: The Archaeological Sites and Monuments of Upper Eskdale
Date April 1980 - September 1980
Event ID 1107715
Category Project
Type Project
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1107715
The records of archaeological sites included in the RCAHMS list for Upper Eskdale were revised in May 2022. This task included updates to their location, classification and period, the creation of digital site-area polygons and the arrangement of site descriptions under a project heading. Revision was undertaken by Darroch Bratt and managed by George Geddes, HES.
'This list of sites and monuments in Upper Eskdale has been prepared by archaeological surveyors attached to the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland as part of a project financed by the Scottish Development Department and sponsored by the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland.
The items listed range in period from prehistoric burial-cairns and forts to deserted farms of comparatively recent date. The following categories have been omitted from the list: buildings eligible for listing by the Scottish Development Department as buildings of special architectural or historic interest under the Town and Country Planning Acts (Scotland); roads, railways and canals; most structures of 19th-century and later date.
Of the 152 entries in this list 77 (50%) are new discoveries. For the prehistoric period these include unenclosed settlements, a type hitherto unrecorded in this area, and nineteen enclosed settlements which, when added to the existing total of twenty-eight, indicate a remarkable richness of early settlement remains. In the category of medieval and later settlement thirty-five new sites have been recorded, upon twenty of which platform-buildings are found (see p. 20). At Tanlawhill (no. 140) platform-buildings form part of a larger settlement, but elsewhere in Upper Eskdale they generally occur either singly or in compact groups of up to three on the valley sides. Although they are frequently found unassociated with any agricultural remains, the majority have small, often slightly scooped, yards or enclosures attached. There is little direct evidence for the dating of these sites but occupation at least as early as the late medieval period is strongly suggested.
The Committee is indebted to Mr George Jobey and Mr A Truckell for their assistance in the compilation of this list’.
