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Hill of Tarvit is a homestead and terraces situated 550 metres south-south-west of Hilltarvit Mains in Fife, Scotland. The settlement occupies ground underlain by Permian dolerite and tholeiitic basalt, hard igneous bedrock that would have presented significant challenges to cultivation. The terraces represent an early farming community's systematic response to the sloping terrain, cutting into the hillside to create level platforms suitable for settlement and agriculture.
The homestead itself comprises the domestic focus of this ancient farmstead, where inhabitants lived and worked the surrounding land. Terraced landscapes of this type are characteristic of prehistoric and early historic settlement in upland and marginal areas across Scotland, where communities maximised usable ground through labour-intensive earthwork engineering.
The monument is protected by Historic Environment Scotland under scheduled monument reference SM4749, recognising its archaeological significance as evidence of early land use and social organisation in medieval or earlier Fife. The site survives as an upstanding earthwork feature in the modern landscape, preserving in its form the practical adaptations of an ancient farming community to their local environment.
Hill of Tarvit,homestead & terraces 550m SSW of Hilltarvit Mains is a scheduled monument protected by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM4749. View the official record →
Hill of Tarvit is a homestead and terraces situated 550 metres south-south-west of Hilltarvit Mains in Fife, Scotland. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM4749.
Hill of Tarvit,homestead & terraces 550m SSW of Hilltarvit Mains 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 SM4749.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Struthers Castle, castle, park and doocot (2.4 km), Lady Mary's Wood,fort 580m SSW of North Scotstarvit (2.6 km), Park House, round house 320m NNW of (5 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Hill of Tarvit,homestead & terraces 550m SSW of Hilltarvit Mains'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.
Hill of Tarvit,homestead & terraces 550m SSW of Hilltarvit Mains stands on Unnamed Igneous Intrusion, Carboniferous To Permian, bedrock that formed in the Permian. The rock here is dolerite and tholeiitic basalt.