Harehill Knowe

Harehill Knowe is a probable cairn on the flood plain of Holms Water to the west of Rachan Hill.

The mound measures around 37m N to S and around 30m E to W, reaching a maximum height of around 2.75m high at its flat summit. It was surveyed by archaeologists in 2004 and subsequently two small trenches were opened for a limited excavation.

The first trench, near the centre of the mound’s summit, revealed a layer around 0.2m deep of cobble-sized stones of fairly uniform size on top of a natural glacial gravel. This natural glacial gravel was the only thing found in the second trench located on the east outer edge of the mound. No dating evidence was found.

The archaeologists concluded that since the stones in the layer found on the summit were carefully-selected for size and not just as a result of field clearance then the mound appeared to be a natural one which had been added to, and was therefore quite possibly a prehistoric burial cairn.