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North Straiton is an unenclosed settlement situated in Fife, Scotland, protected as a scheduled monument under Historic Environment Scotland reference SM6736. The settlement lies upon bedrock composed of Silurian to Devonian extrusive rocks, specifically mafic lava and mafic tuff formed during the Devonian period. This volcanic geology, exposed across much of the surrounding landscape, would have presented both challenges and opportunities to those who chose to settle here.
Unenclosed settlements of this type in Scotland typically date to the Iron Age or earlier medieval period, consisting of individual houses or small clusters of dwellings without surrounding defensive earthworks or formal enclosures. The settlement at North Straiton represents this characteristic domestic arrangement, with structures distributed across the landscape according to the local topography and resource availability rather than planned layout.
The monument's survival in the upland terrain of Fife reflects the enduring occupation patterns of rural Scotland. The volcanic bedrock, whilst difficult to work, offered durable stone for construction and provided fertile soils where weathered. Understanding the settlement's spatial organisation and the relationship between individual structures requires careful field survey, as surface evidence of unenclosed sites is often subtle and dispersed compared to more visually prominent archaeological remains.
North Straiton, unenclosed settlement 140m N of is a scheduled monument protected by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM6736. View the official record →
North Straiton is an unenclosed settlement situated in Fife, Scotland, protected as a scheduled monument under Historic Environment Scotland reference SM6736.
North Straiton, unenclosed settlement 140m 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 SM6736.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Southfield, unenclosed settlement W of (2.2 km), Southfield, cropmarks E and SE of (2.9 km), Leuchars Castle, settlement 200m and 400m W of and 240m WNW of (3.2 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of North Straiton, unenclosed settlement 140m 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.
North Straiton, unenclosed settlement 140m N of stands on Unnamed Extrusive Rocks, Silurian To Devonian, bedrock that formed in the Devonian. The rock here is mafic lava and mafic tuff.