© Mapbox · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Boundary data © Historic Environment Scotland
Cairnhouse is a pair of Bronze Age burial cairns located in Wigtownshire, south-west Scotland. The monuments sit upon bedrock of the Gala Group, a wacke formation laid down during the Telychian period of the early Palaeozoic era. This underlying geology of hard, compact sedimentary stone would have presented a considerable challenge to the builders of these cairns, who constructed their monuments by heaping stone above ground rather than excavating into the bedrock itself.
The two cairns represent a distinctive form of funerary architecture characteristic of the Bronze Age in Scotland. Such paired burial monuments are found across the region, though individual examples often occupy different landscape settings. At Cairnhouse, the cairns are grounded in a geological environment that shaped both their construction methods and their relationship to the surrounding terrain.
The site is protected as a scheduled monument under Historic Environment Scotland's designation SM1924, recognising its archaeological significance and historical importance. This statutory protection ensures the preservation of these Bronze Age structures for future study and public heritage value, maintaining them as evidence of prehistoric burial practice in south-west Scotland.
Cairnhouse, two cairns is a scheduled monument protected by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM1924. View the official record →
Cairnhouse is a pair of Bronze Age burial cairns located in Wigtownshire, south-west Scotland. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM1924.
Cairnhouse, two cairns 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 SM1924.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Torhouse Stone Circle (3.3 km), Torhousekie, fort (3.5 km), High Baltersan,cairn (3.7 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Cairnhouse, two cairns'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.
Cairnhouse, two cairns stands on Gala Group, bedrock that formed in the Telychian. The rock here is wacke.