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Upper Balfour is a post-medieval cairns, house, and field system located in Kincardineshire, Scotland, situated 500 to 1000 metres south-west of the settlement. The monument comprises multiple elements typical of early modern rural settlement and land use in the northeast Scottish lowlands. The site lies upon bedrock of the Argyll Group, a Neoproterozoic sequence of metamorphic rocks dominated by psammite, semipelite and pelite, which would have shaped both the agricultural potential and building materials available to its inhabitants.
The cairns represent clearance from cultivation, a practice widespread across upland and marginal ground during the post-medieval period as communities expanded arable land or prepared fields for pasture. The associated house structures and field boundaries form an integrated pattern of occupation and husbandry, preserving evidence of how rural families organized their landscape. Such sites are invaluable for understanding settlement patterns, field systems, and domestic life in early modern Kincardineshire.
The monument is protected by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM7879, reflecting its significance as a record of local economic and social history. The layered geology beneath the site would have influenced both water availability and soil fertility, determining the viability of settlement in this particular location.
Upper Balfour, cairns, house, & field system 500m to 1000m SW of is a scheduled monument protected by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM7879. View the official record →
Upper Balfour is a post-medieval cairns, house, and field system located in Kincardineshire, Scotland, situated 500 to 1000 metres south-west of the settlement. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM7879.
Upper Balfour, cairns, house, & field system 500m to 1000m SW of dates from the post-medieval period, and is classified as a cairns, house, & field system 500m to. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Upper Balfour, cairns, house, & field system 500m to 1000m SW 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 SM7879.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Cairnfauld, stone circle 120m NNE of (3.4 km), Cairn-mon-earn,cairn (4 km), Cairnshee Wood,cairn 750m SSW of Cairnshee (4.7 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Upper Balfour, cairns, house, & field system 500m to 1000m SW 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.
Upper Balfour, cairns, house, & field system 500m to 1000m SW of stands on Argyll Group, bedrock that formed in the Neoproterozoic. The rock here is psammite, semipelite and pelite.