dumfries-1920/04-113

Transcription

CLOSEBURN.] -- HISTORICAL MONUMENTS (SCOTLAND) COMMISSION. -- [CLOSEBURN.

the trench, which has probably been covered
by a bridge or drawbridge.
xxxi S.E. ("Earthwork"). -- 7 May 1913.

HUT-CIRCLES.

66. Hut-Circle, Townhead. - About 1/2 mile
due east of Townhead farm buildings, and some
40 yards down from the road to Fellend, is a
well-defined hut-circle. It is a small circular
enclosure, surrounded by a turf bank measur-
ing interiorly 7 feet 6 inches by 6 feet 6 inches,
with its longer axis towards the entrance,
which, with a width of about 2 feet 6 inches,
faces south by west. The bank has a thick-
ness of about 3 feet 6 inches and, at most, an
elevation of 1 foot. The structure has been
placed within a larger circle, the stony founda-
tion of which is just traceable, measuring in
diameter some 26 feet, close to the back but
against the wall - presuming the front of this
outer circle to have been in the same direction
as that of the interior construction. Though
no small cairns are actually adjacent, there
are a number sparsely scattered to the west
and south.
xxii. S.E. (unnoted). -- 20 June 1912.

67. Hut-Circle, Townhead. - On a natural
terrace on the hillside to the east-north-
east of Townhead farm, and some 400 yards
distant, is a small hut-circle excavated by
a former tenant of the farm. It measures in-
teriorly 8 feet by 6 feet, the longer axis being
towards the entrance, which has been from the
south-south-east. The floor was sunk about
1 foot below the adjacent natural level, and a
low stony bank surrounded the edge. A small
hearth was found in the centre of the hut,
formed of thin stones set obliquely in the soil, as
well as wood ashes, but no relics were recovered.
The hut-circle is within a large oval waled
enclosure in an extreme state of ruin, which,
however, may be of later date. In one of the
fields at a lower elevation to the south of the
farm, it is said that numerous hut sites -
recognisable by the charred deposits - were
disturbed in a deep ploughing some years ago.
Numbers of flint flakes have been found in the
vicinity.
xxii S.E. (unnoted). -- 20 June 1912.

CAIRNS.

68. Small Cairns, Nether Dod. - At the
south-east end of Nether Dod, on the lower end
of the haunch of the hill overlooking the Capel
Water, is a small group of cairns measuring
some 12 feet in diameter and very low in
elevation. They are at an altitude of some
850 feet above sea-level.
xxxii N.E. -- 7 June 1912.

69. Small Cairn, fellend. - On the upper side
of the road fromTownhead to Mitchellslacks,
about 350 yards to the east by south of
Fellend, is a small cairn with a diameter of
24 feet and an elevation of 2 feet. It has not
been excavated. It lies at an altitude of
nearly 1000 feet over sea-level.
xxiii. S.W. -- 7 June 1912.

70. Small Cairns, Knockbrack. - On the west
side and around the summit of Knockbrack, a
green grassy hillock, which rises up from the
moorland about 1/2 mile to the south-east of
Townfoot Loch, is a large number of small
cairns, which measure from 10 to 20 feet in
diameter, are overgrown with grass and low in
height. They are situated at an elevation
above sea-level of about 900 feet. One near the
summit, measuring some 20 feet in diameter,
was opened some ten years ago by the
tenant in Townhead, who found two flint
chips, a round thin disc of stone about the
size of a penny with a small depression in
the centre on one side, and some charred
wood.
xxiii. S.W. -- 7 June 1912.

71. Cairn, Capel Glen. - About 3/4 mile to the
north-east of the farm of Locherben, on a
plateau which interposes between the slope
of the high land to the westward and the
precipitous right bank of the Capel Burn
which flows by 100 feet below, lies a cairn,
measuring some 5 feet in diameter and low in
elevation, formed of large stones, considerably
overgrown. It does not appear to have been
excavated.
A number of large slabs, lying flat on the
surface or set upright and just protruding
between the cairn and the top of the bank of

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