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Black Meldon is a settlement and scooped homestead located 550 metres east of Meldon in Peeblesshire, Scotland. The site occupies bedrock of the Portpatrick and Glenwhargen Formations, Ordovician wackes laid down during the Caradocian period, which form the underlying geology of this moorland landscape. The monument is protected as a scheduled monument by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM2737.
The scooped homestead represents a form of domestic settlement characteristic of upland Scotland, where Bronze Age and Iron Age communities exploited the pastoral potential of the Peeblesshire hills. The scooped or sunken appearance of such structures results from centuries of occupation and the deliberate lowering of dwelling floors into the ground surface, providing both shelter and insulation in an exposed location. The wacke bedrock, though challenging to work, would have offered stable foundations for these early settlements.
The monument survives as an earthwork within the moorland setting where the underlying geology continues to define the character of the landscape. Its protected status reflects the archaeological importance of such domestic sites for understanding settlement patterns and land use in the Scottish Borders during prehistoric and early historic periods.
Black Meldon,settlement and scooped homestead 550m E of is a scheduled monument protected by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM2737. View the official record →
Black Meldon is a settlement and scooped homestead located 550 metres east of Meldon in Peeblesshire, Scotland. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM2737.
Black Meldon,settlement and scooped homestead 550m E of is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by Historic Environment Scotland — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in Scotland. The official designation reference is SM2737.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Castlehill,tower (7.1 km), Castlehill, fort 250m WSW of (7.2 km), Canada Hill,scooped homestead WSW of (7.6 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Black Meldon,settlement and scooped homestead 550m E of's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Black Meldon,settlement and scooped homestead 550m E of stands on Portpatrick Formation And Glenwhargen Formation (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Caradocian. The rock here is wacke.