© Mapbox · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Boundary data © Historic Environment Scotland
High Banks Farm is a cup and ring marked rock site located in Kirkcudbrightshire, south-west Scotland, protected as a scheduled monument. The carvings are incised into bedrock of the Hawick Group, a Wenlock-age wacke formation characteristic of this region's geology. Cup and ring marks are among Scotland's most enigmatic prehistoric rock art, typically created during the Bronze Age, though their precise chronological span and symbolic meaning remain debated. The marks consist of circular depressions surrounded by concentric rings pecked into the stone surface, sometimes with channels running between them.
The site's position within the weathered wacke bedrock of the Southern Uplands reflects how prehistoric communities selected natural outcrops for marking, creating permanent expressions within the landscape. Such rock art sites are distributed across northern Britain, with particular concentrations in Dumfries and Galloway. The proximity to High Banks Farm, a working agricultural holding, has not protected the site from the gradual weathering that affects all exposed rock art in this climate.
The monument remains under the guardianship of Historic Environment Scotland, recognising its significance as evidence of early Bronze Age cultural expression and territorial practice. Understanding the relationship between such carvings and local topography, settlement patterns and resource availability continues to inform archaeological interpretation of prehistoric Scotland's people and societies.
High Banks Farm,cup and ring marked rocks 350m SE of is a scheduled monument protected by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM1028. View the official record →
High Banks Farm is a cup and ring marked rock site located in Kirkcudbrightshire, south-west Scotland, protected as a scheduled monument. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM1028.
High Banks Farm,cup and ring marked rocks 350m 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 SM1028.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including North Milton,fort 235m NNE of (1 km), Milton,fort 180m NNW of (2 km), Doon Hill, fort, Balig (2.2 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of High Banks Farm,cup and ring marked rocks 350m 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.
High Banks Farm,cup and ring marked rocks 350m SE of stands on Hawick Group, bedrock that formed in the Wenlock. The rock here is wacke.