Deserted Settlement 400m E of Thieves Hill Slamannan, Falkirk Council Area, 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 contribute to an understanding of pre-improvement upland settlement and economy.

Scheduled Monument Description

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

The monument comprises a farmstead of pre-Improvement date, visible as a low, standing structure.

The monument is situated in newly planted woodland at about 160m O.D. The monument comprises a two-compartment building that measures c. 24.4m ENE-WSW by c. 6.2m transversely over faced-rubble walls spread to c. 1.4m in thickness and 0.4m in height.

The corners of the building are rounded. The eastern compartment is the longer and slopes downhill, perhaps indicative of its use as a byre. The wall of a large drystone sheepfold has been built over the northern wall of the building. A swathe of rig occupies the fields to E and W.

The remains appear to represent a small farmstead of medieval or later date. The form may indicate a relatively early date. The site is depicted on Roy's mid 18th century survey, but haD disappeared by the time of the Ist edition Ordnace Survey map a hundred years later.

The area proposed for scheduling comprises the remains described and an area around them within which related material may be expected to be found. It is circular in shape, with a diameter of 50m, as marked in red on the accompanying map extract. The rig is excluded from the scheduling.

Scheduled Monument References

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

RCAHMS records the monument as NS 87 SW 12.

Bibliography:

RCAHMS (1998) Forts, Farms and Furnaces: archaeology in the Central Scotland Forest, 50.