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Parks is a scooped settlement and house platforms located in Dumfriesshire, south-west Scotland. The monument sits upon bedrock of the Hawick Group, a sedimentary formation of wacke deposited during the Wenlock period of the Silurian. This geological foundation, characteristic of the southern uplands, would have provided a firm though challenging base for occupation.
The settlement comprises a series of artificially levelled platforms and shallow depressions cut into the hillside, characteristic of prehistoric and early medieval dwellings in the Scottish borderlands. Such scooped settlements represent domestic structures where earth was removed to create level ground for timber-framed buildings, with the displaced soil often banked around the perimeter for insulation and protection. The multiple platforms suggest a small community rather than a single household.
The monument is protected as a scheduled ancient monument under Historic Environment Scotland's designation SM12729, reflecting its archaeological significance as evidence of settlement patterns in the upland regions of Dumfriesshire. The site's preservation on the challenging wacke bedrock demonstrates the persistence of human habitation in this rural landscape across the centuries.
Parks, scooped settlement and house platforms 770m NNW of is a scheduled monument protected by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM12729. View the official record →
Parks is a scooped settlement and house platforms located in Dumfriesshire, south-west Scotland. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM12729.
Parks, scooped settlement and house platforms 770m NNW 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 SM12729.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Davie's Kirk,fort 40m W of (6.1 km), Maggiemauts Knowe,fort 150m NE of Courancehilly (6.7 km), The Knock,settlement 300m WSW of Burrancehill Cottages (7.1 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Parks, scooped settlement and house platforms 770m NNW 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.
Parks, scooped settlement and house platforms 770m NNW of stands on Hawick Group, bedrock that formed in the Wenlock. The rock here is wacke.