A low but remarkably complete bank-and-ditch enclosure survives beside the modern settlement, preserving one of Easter Ross’s characteristic prehistoric ceremonial sites.
Quick facts
- Date
- Probably Neolithic or early Bronze Age
- Architect / designer
- Unknown prehistoric community
- Type
- Oval henge or hengiform ritual enclosure with bank, ditch and single causeway
- Designation
- Scheduled monument (SM1666)
- OS grid reference
- NH 54293 55071
Architecture, archaeology and continuing use
A flat oval interior about twenty-six metres across is surrounded by a ditch roughly 2.7 metres wide and an outer bank around 3.6 metres wide. A causeway crosses the ditch on the southeast, but the bank may continue across that line, prompting debate about precise classification.
Its story
The enclosure probably belongs to the third or second millennium BC. Twentieth-century study compared it with henges across Easter Ross, while scheduling protected the surviving earthworks and buried deposits from 1957, amended in 1993.
Why it is included
National scheduling recognises exceptional preservation and the strong likelihood that sealed deposits can illuminate prehistoric ceremony, construction and use.
What to notice
- The low outer bank defining an oval enclosure.
- The ditch inside the bank.
- The southeast causeway and the unusual possibility that the bank remains unbroken.
Reading the surroundings
Do not enter cultivated land without permission, walk on the earthworks or disturb the bank and ditch. The site may be difficult to see from public space.
Timeline
- 3rd–2nd millennium BC A prehistoric community created the ditched ceremonial enclosure.
- 1950s Field study brought the unusual bank and entrance arrangement to wider attention.
- 1957 The monument entered the national schedule.
- 1993 The official scheduling record was amended.
What we know — and what remains uncertain
Only excavation could resolve the original bank form, exact date and whether henge or hengiform enclosure is the better archaeological term.
Sources & further reading
- Historic Environment Scotland: Conon Bridge Henge, SM1666 — Designation status, mapped location, date, fabric and architectural or archaeological interest.
- Highland HER: Henge, Conon Bridge — Comparative interpretation, field observations, research history and local archaeological context.
- Highland HER hosted Riverford assessment — Recent baseline description and spatial relationship to Riverford and Conon Homes.
Location
OS grid reference NH 54293 55071 · Location confidence: High: the national designation supplies an official mapped National Grid Reference; an additional source confirms the Place relationship, history or current identity. · Select the marker to open its satellite view in Google Maps. On desktop, drag Pegman (the yellow figure) onto a blue road. On mobile, turn on the Street View layer and tap a blue road. Other photo markers may be user-contributed.
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