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Orchard Rig is a post-medieval settlement, enclosure, cairn and field system located in Peeblesshire, Scotland. The monument comprises the physical remains of a working landscape that reflects the agricultural practices and land use of the early modern period. Set upon bedrock of the Gala Group wacke formation, the site preserves evidence of how communities organised their holdings and cultivated the rolling Southern Upland terrain.
The settlement comprises domestic structures, field boundaries and associated enclosures that define the character of rural occupation in this region. A cairn, likely derived from clearance stones gathered during cultivation, is incorporated within the monument complex. Together these elements form an archaeological record of the interconnected settlement pattern and agricultural organisation that typified Peeblesshire's post-medieval landscape.
The monument is protected by Historic Environment Scotland under national monument designation SM2680. The Gala Group wacke bedrock that underlies the site is characteristic of the geological substrate across this part of the Borders, providing the raw materials for the stone structures and field boundaries that survive today. Orchard Rig represents the material legacy of rural settlement and land management practices that shaped the Peeblesshire countryside from the sixteenth century onwards.
Orchard Rig,settlements,enclosures,cairn and field system is a scheduled monument protected by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM2680. View the official record →
Orchard Rig is a post-medieval settlement, enclosure, cairn and field system located in Peeblesshire, Scotland. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM2680.
Orchard Rig,settlements,enclosures,cairn and field system dates from the post-medieval period, and is classified as a settlements,enclosures,cairn and field system. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Orchard Rig,settlements,enclosures,cairn and field system 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 SM2680.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Young Bush Wood,enclosure NW of (0.4 km), Grieston Hill,fort (0.7 km), Chester Hill,fort (0.8 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Orchard Rig,settlements,enclosures,cairn and field system'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.
Orchard Rig,settlements,enclosures,cairn and field system stands on Gala Group, bedrock that formed in the Telychian. The rock here is wacke.