From 2014 to 2022, the Biggar Archaeology Group carried out a watching brief and fieldwalking program across Upper Clydesdale and Tweeddale. These surveys were conducted on ploughed agricultural land, forestry sites, and reservoir shorelines exposed by low water levels. The project recorded evidence of prehistoric, Bronze Age, and historic settlement, including previously unrecorded building foundations, cairns, lithic tools, ceramics, and metal finds. The work highlights both the rich archaeological heritage of the region and the challenges of documenting sites under modern land use conditions.
Key Findings:
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Crookburn (Daer Reservoir, Crawford Parish): Follow-up of an 18th–19th century settlement uncovered cobbled areas, wall foundations, a previously undiscovered drain and finds including ceramics, metal and glass.
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Camps Reservoir: Low water levels revealed a Bronze Age cairn within a 19th-century sheepfold.
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Little Clyde and Upper Howcleuch: Previously unrecorded building foundations discovered; a cast-iron kettle boiler likely used for mid-20th-century sheep dipping.
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Cornhill, Muirlee and Greens Moor: Fieldwalking recovered chert flakes, lithics and an agate scraper, indicating prehistoric activity.
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Wauk Mill and Fruid Reservoir: Prehistoric cairns, flint and chert tools and small ceramic and charcoal fragments suggest Neolithic to Bronze Age use of these landscapes.
Download Report:
Download Upper Clydesdale & Tweeddale Watching Brief Report (PDF)
