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Set at the top end of the Clyde Valley, Crookedstane has been inhabited one way or another for many centuries, early platform settlements can be found above the present farmhouse. In the region of upper Clydesdale and Tweeddale, the many unenclosed platform settlements of the Bronze Age occupy the edge of what would have been cultivable land and are a feature of the expansion of settlement during the climatic upturn, it is likely that the better agricultural areas were densely occupied. The unenclosed platform settlements seem to form a coherent group because of a number of shared features. Loose groupings of platforms tend either to be strung out along a contour or arranged roughly in tiers, almost always close to 300m OD. The platforms were dug into the slopes of hillsides and the excavated spoil was used to construct the forward half, thus forming a level stance for the construction of a roundhouse. The platform, as such, is a response to the need to build on sloping land and is not exclusive to these sites. The Crookedstane has been guarding the Clyde, its earliest mention we know about is as follows.

In the year 1479 the demesne lands of Crawford and the lands of Midlok yielded twenty-four merks of yearly rent; the lands of the Crukitstane, yielded fifteen Merks; and the lands of Lytel Clyde, fifteen merks. The whole barony was of the old extent of £200, being the value of each of the baronies of Kylbride, Avondale, Lesmahago, Douglas, and Carnwath. Only one barony in the shire was taxed at a higher sum, namely that of Bothwell, which was rated at £300.