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King's Cairn is a neolithic chambered cairn situated 450 metres north-east of Kirriemore in Kirkcudbrightshire, south-western Scotland. The monument stands on bedrock of the Kirkcolm Formation, a wacke deposited during the Caradocian period, which would have provided suitable stone for the cairn's construction. The site is protected as a scheduled monument by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM1030.
Chambered cairns of this type date from the neolithic period and served as communal burial monuments, their stone-built chambers designed to contain multiple interments. The construction method—stacking stone to create internal chambers beneath an earthen or stone mound—was characteristic of neolithic communities across Scotland, adapted to local geology and landscape. The wacke bedrock at this location would have supplied naturally fractured stone suitable for building the cairn's structural elements.
The precise form and condition of King's Cairn reflect both its original neolithic design and subsequent centuries of weathering and disturbance. Its survival in the landscape, protected today by statute, represents an important record of early farming communities in Kirkcudbrightshire and their funerary practices during the neolithic period.
King's Cairn, chambered cairn 450m NE of Kirriemore is a scheduled monument protected by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM1030. View the official record →
King's Cairn is a neolithic chambered cairn situated 450 metres north-east of Kirriemore in Kirkcudbrightshire, south-western Scotland. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM1030.
King's Cairn, chambered cairn 450m NE of Kirriemore dates from the neolithic period, and is classified as a chambered cairn 450m ne of kirriemore. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
King's Cairn, chambered cairn 450m NE of Kirriemore 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 SM1030.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Suie tollhouse, 670m SW of Kirriereoch Farm (2.3 km), Sheuchan's Cairn, chambered cairn, Highlandman's Rig (4.2 km), Rowantree tollhouse and inn, 230m S of Laigh Rowantree Bridge (5.5 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of King's Cairn, chambered cairn 450m NE of Kirriemore'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.
King's Cairn, chambered cairn 450m NE of Kirriemore stands on Kirkcolm Formation, bedrock that formed in the Caradocian. The rock here is wacke.