The Iron Age at Hunting Hall
A Glimpse into the Ancient History of the Farm
2000 years ago, on the banks of our small burn, stood a huddle of roundhouses protected by deep semi-circular ditches. This was an Iron Age settlement of self-sufficient farmers who raised cattle, spun and wove their own clothes, ground cereal, and forged the iron tools they used.
With the support of Natural England and DEFRA, we’ve created a display area on the farm to help you discover more about this ancient site and the people who have worked to uncover its secrets. Designed to reflect the footprint of one of the excavated roundhouses we’ve built a circular structure of large display boards telling the story of the Hunting Hall Dig.
Since 2019, Lowick Archaeology group, a dedicated group of volunteers led by a lecturer from Edinburgh University, has been carrying out a small archaeology excavation at Hunting Hall to learn more about life in this lowland Iron Age village. For a few weeks each year the grass and soil is removed from a portion of the site, exposing a jumble of stones. Gradually post holes, roundhouse bases and other structures are revealed. There have been some lovely discoveries; a spindle whorl, grind stone, lots of animal bones (some cooked and even one shaped as a spoon) and evidence of a bloomery, which is a small Iron Age smelting furnace. We think this was a small homely settlement of subsistence farmers – there’s been no evidence of wealth or weapons – and yet the village was protected by a palisade and two deep ditches, suggesting a threat from the surrounding area.
Our Iron Age display is open all year round – you can walk to it from the bridleway leading towards the village. Most of the year the archaeology site is re-covered and can’t be accessed, but if you visit whist a dig is taking place the volunteers will be delighted to give you a guided tour of their work. There’s even the opportunity to experience digging with them - please just ask :)
