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Cairn Rig is a cairn situated in Selkirkshire, Scotland, built upon bedrock of the Hawick Group, a wacke formed during the Wenlock period. This stone-built monument is recorded in the historic environment register of Scotland under the protection reference SM2284.
Cairns of this type served multiple purposes across the Bronze Age and later periods, functioning variously as burial monuments, territorial markers, or ritual structures. The underlying geology of wacke—a hard, compact sedimentary rock—provided a stable base for construction and may have influenced the site's selection. The Hawick Group's durability has allowed this monument to survive the Scottish uplands for millennia.
The cairn survives in Selkirkshire's moorland landscape, where such stone monuments remain prominent features. Its protected status recognises its archaeological significance to our understanding of prehistoric and early historic settlement patterns in the Borders region. Visitors approaching the site traverse terrain typical of the upland Tweed valley, where weather-resistant wacke bedrock underlies the heather and grassland.
Cairn Rig,cairn is a scheduled monument protected by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM2284. View the official record →
Cairn Rig is a cairn situated in Selkirkshire, Scotland, built upon bedrock of the Hawick Group, a wacke formed during the Wenlock period. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM2284.
Cairn Rig,cairn 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 SM2284.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Howden,motte (4.7 km), Castle Hill,earthwork (5.1 km), Middlestead,earthwork (5.4 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Cairn Rig,cairn'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.
Cairn Rig,cairn stands on Hawick Group, bedrock that formed in the Wenlock. The rock here is wacke.