Homestead Moat 200m N of South Mains Linlithgow, West Lothian, Scotland, UK

Scheduled Monument Statement of Significance

© Crown Copyright text courtesy of Historic Environment Scotland, reprinted under the Open Government License.

The monument is of national importance because of its potential to add to our understanding of medieval lordship centres. The low-lying position of the site and the relative massiveness of the ditches suggest that waterlogged material may survive which could contribute greatly to our understanding of the economy and environment of the area in the medieval period.

Scheduled Monument Description

© Crown Copyright text courtesy of Historic Environment Scotland, reprinted under the Open Government License.

The monument comprises the remains of a homestead moat of medieval date surviving as a raised area in an arable field and visible on oblique aerial photographs.

The monument is a five-sided homestead moat raised slightly above the surrounding area which has been ill-drained pastureland. It measures approximately 100m E-W by 65m within a ditch up to some 11m wide. No entrance is visible. An mound within the W corner may be the location of an internal building. The site has been suggested as the medieval predecessor of the nearby Tartraven Castle, representing an early centre of the Lordship of Tartraven.

The area to be scheduled encompasses the visible features and an area around them in which traces of associated activity may be expected to survive. It is sub-rectangular with maximum dimensions of 130m E-W by 100m as marked in red on the accompanying map. Existing drains are excluded from the provisions of scheduling, to allow for maintenance.

Scheduled Monument References

© Crown Copyright text courtesy of Historic Environment Scotland, reprinted under the Open Government License.

RCAHMS records the monument as NT 07 SW 14.