Monument record MHG5969 - Boundary Dyke, Upper Halistra

There are several boundary banks that defined the limits of the farm of Upper Halistra at various stages in its development. These follow an unnamed burn and the Allt na Luinge on the NW and SE respectively, and provide the springing point for the series of boundaries, which define the inland or NE side of the farm. The banks themselves are generally of earth and stone, standing to more than 1m in height in places. The following boundaries can be identified:-
1. A bank leads from NG 2386 6043 to NG 2578 6242 on the E side of Ben Geary via a Z-bend intersection with and over-riding, (in the final phase at least), a contour bank at NG 2453 6096.
2. A bank runs along the side of the Allt na Luinge from NG 2545 5962 to the junction with a contour bank (see 3) at NG 2596 5984, but a further bank continues along the burn, which is also part of the boundary of Peinstaphen farm.
3. A contour bank runs from the intersection at NG 2453 6096 in a SE direction until it meets a group of large enclosures at NG 2482 6085, on the S side of which there is a farmstead (NG25NW 1.11). Two phases of bank run off from the SE (NG 2520 6030) and E (2531 6053) corners of the large enclosures; from the SE corner it runs in a SE direction directly down to the Allt na Luinge at NG 2561 5970, crossing an earlier enclosure on the way. This stretch of bank is physically associated with shielings. From the E corner runs a bank in an arc to meet the Allt na Luinge at NG 2596 5984.
4. There is at least one other phase of contour boundary worthy of mention; it runs from an enclosure at NG 2486 6034 to the NE until it meets a globular field at NG 2430 6056 and in its course cuts the enclosure of the farmstead NG25NW 1.06. There are fragmentary traces of other phases of boundary, but these are too short to form any pattern. Visited by RCAHMS (PJD) 1 October 1990.