© Mapbox · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Boundary data © Historic Environment Scotland
Cairnhill is a post-medieval palisaded enclosure and timber house situated in Ayrshire, Scotland, lying 220 metres north-north-east of the settlement it once served. The monument comprises a timber-framed dwelling set within a defensive or boundary palisade, a domestic arrangement characteristic of the period's modest fortified dwellings. Such structures typically date to the sixteenth or seventeenth centuries and reflect the practical security concerns of their time.
The site is positioned upon bedrock of the Clackmannan Group, sedimentary rocks formed during the Westphalian period, which provides a stable foundation for settlement. The choice of location reflects local resource availability and topography, factors that governed the placement of domestic sites across rural Ayrshire during the post-medieval centuries.
Cairnhill is protected by Historic Environment Scotland under the designation SM5479, recognising its significance as evidence of domestic and defensive architecture in the post-medieval period. The survival of both the palisade traces and timber structure remains, offering archaeological potential for understanding settlement patterns and building practices in early modern Scotland.
Cairnhill,palisaded enclosure and timber house 220m NNE of is a scheduled monument protected by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM5479. View the official record →
Cairnhill is a post-medieval palisaded enclosure and timber house situated in Ayrshire, Scotland, lying 220 metres north-north-east of the settlement it once served. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM5479.
Cairnhill,palisaded enclosure and timber house 220m NNE of dates from the post-medieval period, and is classified as a palisaded enclosure and timber house. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Cairnhill,palisaded enclosure and timber house 220m NNE 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 SM5479.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Old Dailly Church (1.4 km), Craighead Hill,dun 380m WNW of (1.6 km), Camregan Castle (2.6 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Cairnhill,palisaded enclosure and timber house 220m NNE 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.
Cairnhill,palisaded enclosure and timber house 220m NNE of stands on Clackmannan Group, bedrock that formed in the Westphalian. The rock here is sedimentary rock cycles, clackmannan group type.