2014

NS2373 : Linear mound near the Greenock Cut

taken 10 years ago, near to Braeside, Inverclyde, Scotland

Linear mound near the Greenock Cut
Linear mound near the Greenock Cut
A prominent mound recedes directly from the photographer's position. The picture was taken from near the point where the path that accompanies the Greenock Cut (a watercourse – see Link for details) slices through the mound. Click on the end-note title for other views of this mound.

As the end-note mentions, there are many less prominent field boundaries in the area near (and enclosed by) the Greenock Cut. There are even the faint remains of farmsteads themselves; for example, the footings at NS24597245, just west of NS2472 : A circular sheep ree, not far from the Greenock Cut Visitor Centre: see NS2472 : The former site of a farmstead and related pictures.

Returning to the mound shown in the present photograph (at the time of writing, it is not recorded in the archaeology databases): it is not only older than the Greenock Cut, but is partly uphill of it. Either of those facts rules out the possibility that the mound could be some form of defensive measure to alleviate the effects of flooding from the Cut by re-directing water; the mound is, instead, a boundary.

However, it is a much more prominent feature than the various old field boundaries downhill from it (see NS2474 : Remains of a field boundary for an example), and it is reasonable to suppose that it marked a more important boundary. In fact, as is clear in satellite imagery, the ground downhill of this long mound is strongly marked, not only by field boundaries, but by patterns of furrows, while the ground above it is (depending on place) either much less strongly marked, or not visibly marked at all. It is rather like the head dyke of a township, in that it marked the upper boundary of the land that was cultivated in this particular area.

The present picture was taken from a point about 20 metres downhill of the path that accompanies the Greenock Cut. See NS2373 : Linear mound near the Greenock Cut for a view in the opposite direction from roughly the same spot.
Linear mound near the Greenock Cut

The area near the Greenock Cut – Link – is crossed by many old field boundaries. However, far more prominent than most of them is a linear mound running from NS23117362 to at least NS23707391; it is 740m long (660m in straight-line distance). Like the other old field boundaries nearby, this mound pre-dates the Cut (which slices through it at NS23537383). The mound, a very substantial construction, appears to have been an important upper boundary (of an estate, or of land associated with a particular farm): the ground downhill of the mound is furrowed and subdivided, while the ground uphill of it is not.


Creative Commons Licence [Some Rights Reserved]   © Copyright Lairich Rig and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.
Geographical Context: Boundary, Barrier Derelict, Disused
1:50,000 Modern Day Landranger(TM) Map © Crown Copyright
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1:50,000 Modern Day Landranger(TM) Map © Crown Copyright
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Grid Square
NS2373, 83 images   (more nearby 🔍)
Photographer
Lairich Rig   (more nearby)
Date Taken
Monday, 8 September, 2014   (more nearby)
Submitted
Wednesday, 17 September, 2014
Subject Location
OSGB36: geotagged! NS 2344 7382 [10m precision]
WGS84: 55:55.4969N 4:49.6435W
Camera Location
OSGB36: geotagged! NS 2348 7383
View Direction
West-southwest (about 247 degrees)
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Image classification(about): Geograph
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