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Wester Yardhouses is a souterrain, an underground stone-built chamber typical of Iron Age settlement in Scotland. Located in Lanarkshire, the monument lies approximately 180 metres west-north-west of Wester Yardhouses farm. Souterrains served various purposes for Iron Age communities, functioning as storage facilities, refuge spaces, or ritual locations within domestic settlements.
The monument is constructed within a landscape of Dinantian age bedrock, comprising unnamed extrusive rocks formed during the Mississippian period. These mafic lavas and tuffs created the geological foundation upon which Iron Age inhabitants established their settlement. The volcanic geology of this region influenced both construction methods and the character of the surrounding terrain.
The souterrain is protected as a scheduled monument under Historic Environment Scotland's designation SM2615. This statutory protection recognises the archaeological significance of underground structures from this period, which remain valuable sources of evidence for understanding Iron Age domestic life, building techniques and settlement patterns in central Scotland.
Wester Yardhouses, souterrain 180m WNW of is a scheduled monument protected by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM2615. View the official record →
Wester Yardhouses is a souterrain, an underground stone-built chamber typical of Iron Age settlement in Scotland. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM2615.
Wester Yardhouses, souterrain 180m WNW of dates from the iron age period, and is classified as a souterrain. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Wester Yardhouses, souterrain 180m WNW 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 SM2615.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Calla Doone, hut-circle 500m ESE of (2 km), Windygates, hut-circle 385m NNW of (2.2 km), Kersewell Mains, cairn 450m NE of (2.3 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Wester Yardhouses, souterrain 180m WNW 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.
Wester Yardhouses, souterrain 180m WNW of stands on Unnamed Extrusive Rocks, Dinantian, bedrock that formed in the Mississippian. The rock here is mafic lava and mafic tuff.