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Highwood House enclosure is a post-medieval earthwork situated 800 metres south of Highwood House in Midlothian, Scotland. The site occupies land underlain by the Scottish Coal Measures Group, a geological formation of the Moscovian period comprising mudstone, siltstone, sandstone, coal, ironstone and ferricrete. This industrial-age bedrock reflects the coal-bearing geology characteristic of the Midlothian coalfield, which shaped the economic landscape of the region from medieval times onwards.
The enclosure represents a field boundary or defensive feature of the post-medieval period, a time of significant change in rural settlement and land management across lowland Scotland. Its earthen banks and ditches would have served practical purposes in defining property, controlling livestock movement, or protecting agricultural or domestic activity. The monument's survival as a visible earthwork suggests it was constructed with sufficient robustness to withstand centuries of subsequent land use.
The site is protected by Historic Environment Scotland as a scheduled monument under reference SM6257, recognising its archaeological importance as evidence of post-medieval settlement and land organisation in Midlothian. The surrounding landscape preserves other traces of Scotland's transition from medieval feudalism to early modern farming practices.
Highwood House,enclosure 800m S of is a scheduled monument protected by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM6257. View the official record →
Highwood House enclosure is a post-medieval earthwork situated 800 metres south of Highwood House in Midlothian, Scotland. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM6257.
Highwood House,enclosure 800m S of dates from the post-medieval period, and is classified as a enclosure. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Highwood House,enclosure 800m S 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 SM6257.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Enclosed settlement, 480m SE of Stonefieldhill Farm (0.7 km), Capielaw, enclosed settlement (1.5 km), Newbigging,enclosure 400m NE of (1.9 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Highwood House,enclosure 800m S 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.
Highwood House,enclosure 800m S of stands on Scottish Coal Measures Group, bedrock that formed in the Moscovian. The rock here is mudstone, siltstone, sandstone, coal, ironstone and ferricrete.