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Drylawhill is a cursus and settlement complex located in East Lothian, Scotland, protected as a scheduled monument by Historic Environment Scotland. The site sits upon Dinantian extrusive rocks of Mississippian age, a geology of mafic lava and tuff that underlies this part of the Lothian landscape. The cursus monument itself represents one of the most distinctive ritual earthwork types of Neolithic Britain, consisting of parallel banks and ditches creating a linear processional way, typically aligned to significant landscape features or astronomical phenomena.
The settlement remains at Drylawhill indicate sustained occupation or repeated use of this location alongside the cursus monument. Such associations between cursus monuments and settlement evidence are relatively uncommon, suggesting this site held particular importance in the prehistoric community. The combination of ritual and domestic activity suggests Drylawhill functioned as more than a simple processional route, possibly serving as a central place for both ceremonial gatherings and habitation.
The cursus tradition flourished during the Neolithic period, generally predating the construction of henges and stone circles. Drylawhill's position in East Lothian places it within the broader distribution of such monuments across eastern Scotland, where the rolling terrain and accessible valleys provided ideal locations for these monumental expressions of communal labour and religious practice.
Drylawhill, cursus and settlements 320m SE of is a scheduled monument protected by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM6379. View the official record →
Drylawhill is a cursus and settlement complex located in East Lothian, Scotland, protected as a scheduled monument by Historic Environment Scotland. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM6379.
Drylawhill, cursus and settlements 320m SE 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 SM6379.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Chesters Farm,enclosure 300m S of (7.7 km), Nunraw Barns, palisaded enclosure 180m SSW of (7.7 km), Nunraw Barns, pit alignment SE of (7.7 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Drylawhill, cursus and settlements 320m SE 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.
Drylawhill, cursus and settlements 320m SE of stands on Unnamed Extrusive Rocks, Dinantian, bedrock that formed in the Mississippian. The rock here is mafic lava and mafic tuff.