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Dirrington Little Law is a cairn situated on the summit of a hill in Berwickshire, Scottish Borders. The monument occupies prominent elevated ground, commanding views across the surrounding landscape typical of Borders ridge-top burial monuments. The underlying bedrock is formed from a felsic igneous intrusion of Permian age, which provides naturally rocky terrain suited to cairn construction and would have been exposed across the hilltop when the monument was built.
The cairn belongs to a widespread tradition of Bronze Age burial in upland areas throughout southern Scotland. Such summit-sited monuments were positioned to be visible across considerable distances, serving both as burial markers and as territorial markers within the Bronze Age landscape. The monument's location on bedrock of igneous composition would have offered natural stone for construction, though the exposed felsic rock also means the monument may have been partially incorporated into the natural outcrop.
Dirrington Little Law is scheduled and protected by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM4638, reflecting its importance as an archaeological monument. Its survival as a recognisable landscape feature makes it significant for understanding Bronze Age funerary practice and settlement patterns in the Borders region.
Dirrington Little Law,cairn on summit of is a scheduled monument protected by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM4638. View the official record →
Dirrington Little Law is a cairn situated on the summit of a hill in Berwickshire, Scottish Borders. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM4638.
Dirrington Little Law,cairn on summit 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 SM4638.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Bedshiel,cairn 950m NNE of (1.1 km), Evelaw Tower (2.6 km), Evelaw,farmstead and cultivation remains 650m WSW of (3.2 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Dirrington Little Law,cairn on summit 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.
Dirrington Little Law,cairn on summit of stands on Unnamed Igneous Intrusion, Carboniferous To Permian, bedrock that formed in the Permian. The rock here is felsic-rock.