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Kirkhope Scooped Homestead is a prehistoric domestic settlement located in Peeblesshire, Scotland, and is protected as a scheduled monument by Historic Environment Scotland. The site comprises a sunken habitation platform characteristic of settlement patterns in the Scottish Borders during the Bronze Age and early Iron Age. Such dwellings were created by excavating into sloping ground to form sheltered, partially subterranean living spaces, which offered protection from the region's exposed moorland climate.
The homestead sits upon bedrock of the Gala Group, a formation of wacke laid down during the Telychian period of the Ordovician. This ancient geology of hard, metamorphic rock would have presented considerable labour in creating the scooped platform, yet the resulting basin provided both structural stability and enhanced insulation for the domestic enclosure. The Peeblesshire landscape, characterised by rolling uplands and river valleys, supported pastoral communities who exploited the seasonal grasslands for herding.
Scooped homesteads represent an economical adaptation to moorland settlement, requiring minimal stone or timber superstructure whilst offering the inhabitants protection from wind and weather. The monument at Kirkhope survives as an archaeological record of how rural communities in the Scottish Borders organised their domestic spaces and adapted their building practices to the demands of upland terrain.
Kirkhope,scooped homestead N of is a scheduled monument protected by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM3140. View the official record →
Kirkhope Scooped Homestead is a prehistoric domestic settlement located in Peeblesshire, Scotland, and is protected as a scheduled monument by Historic Environment Scotland. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM3140.
Kirkhope,scooped homestead N 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 SM3140.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Langhaugh,settlement 130m SSE of (0.4 km), Langhaugh,tower & associated buildings (0.5 km), Kirkhope,crossbase,tower & associated structures 500m WSW of (0.6 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Kirkhope,scooped homestead N 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.
Kirkhope,scooped homestead N of stands on Gala Group, bedrock that formed in the Telychian. The rock here is wacke.