Satellite Imagery
Satellite Imagery
HER: Scottish Borders 58091 (None)
NMR: NT 71 SE 36 (58091)
SM: 2165
NGR: NT 7963 1472
X: 379630 Y: 614720 (OSGB36)
This fort is situated on Huntfold Hill, a steep-sided spur above the Yett Burn into which the ground gently shelves from the saddle between Whitestone Hill and Thorny Hill. on the NNE. The defences of the fort comprise two elements, namely a multivallate inner enclosure and an outer annexe, the latter apparently an addition. The inner enclosure is roughly oval on plan, measuring 63m from NNE to SSW by 58m transversely (0.27ha) within three stone-faced ramparts with external ditches, which form a clearly-defined belt 21m deep around the northern quarter. As they survive today, however, only the inner forms a complete enclosure, the outer ramparts petering out along the flanks, and while the medial rampart is probably represented by a scarp extending around the nose of the spur, the third rampart visible on this side probably belongs to the annexe defences. The latter are best defined on the NE, where they comprise twin ramparts with a medial ditch, but their lines can be traced along the E flank of the fort and they probably once formed a near continuous circuit. While there is no visible stratigraphical relationship between the defences of the fort and those of the annexe, on the NW the inner rampart of the annexe apparently diverts around the outermost rampart of the fort, but it should be noted that its perimeter in this sector has lost the coherence visible on the NE, the outer rampart with an internal ditch splaying to the W, and the inner flanked by discontinuous quarry ditches on either side for a short distance before it diverts. In short, an earlier perimeter, perhaps incomplete, may have been altered here, possibly creating a misleading impression of the relationship between the two. Including the fort, the overall area enclosed by the annexe defences is roughly oval and measures about 125m from NNE to SSW by 75m transversely (0.8ha), extending some 30m beyond the fort defences on the NNE to enclose a crescent-shaped space of about 0.22ha. The interior of the annexe is featureless, but within the fort, the eastern half of which is occupied by a later sheepfold, there are at least four stone-founded round-houses. There are two entrances, on the ESE and WNW respectively, though in 1947 RCAHMS investigators were reluctant to believe that the latter, which opens into a circular scooped court was original to the fort, and attributing it to a hypothetical later period of fortification; if not original, it is more likely to relate to the late Iron Age occupation represented by the stone-founded round-houses. The entrance on the ESE is approached from the E by a trackway through a gap in the annexe perimeter.
Citizen Science: ✗
Reliability of Data: Confirmed
Reliability of Interpretation: Confirmed
X: -258640 Y: 7444984 (EPSG: 3857)
Longitude: -2.3233998319333717 Latitude: 55.42598635308158 (EPSG:4326)
Country: Scotland
Current County or Unitary Authority: Scottish Borders
Historic County: Roxburghshire
Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland: Hownam
None
| Extant | ✓ |
| Cropmark | ✗ |
| Likely Destroyed | ✗ |
None
| Woodland | ✗ |
| Commercial Forestry Plantation | ✗ |
| Parkland | ✗ |
| Pasture (Grazing) | ✓ |
| Arable | ✗ |
| Scrub/Bracken | ✗ |
| Bare Outcrop | ✗ |
| Heather/Moorland | ✓ |
| Heath | ✗ |
| Built-up | ✗ |
| Coastal Grassland | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
None
| Contour Fort | ✗ |
| Partial Contour Fort | ✗ |
| Promontory Fort | ✗ |
| Hillslope Fort | ✓ |
| Level Terrain Fort | ✗ |
| Marsh Fort | ✗ |
| Multiple Enclosure Fort | ✗ |
| Hilltop | ✗ |
| Coastal Promontory | ✗ |
| Inland Promontory | ✗ |
| Valley Bottom | ✗ |
| Knoll/Hillock/Outcrop | ✗ |
| Ridge | ✗ |
| Cliff/Plateau-edge/Scarp | ✗ |
| Hillslope | ✓ |
| Lowland | ✗ |
| Spur | ✓ |
Dominant Topographic Feature: None
| North | ✗ |
| Northeast | ✗ |
| East | ✗ |
| Southeast | ✗ |
| South | ✗ |
| Southwest | ✗ |
| West | ✗ |
| Northwest | ✗ |
| Level | ✓ |
Altitude: 345.0m
N/A
In the absence of excavation, there are neither stratified artefacts nor radiocarbon dates to provide a chronology for the defences.
Reliability: D - None
| Pre 1200BC | ✗ |
| 1200BC - 800BC | ✗ |
| 800BC - 400BC | ✗ |
| 400BC - AD50 | ✗ |
| AD50 - AD400 | ✗ |
| AD400 - AD 800 | ✗ |
| Post AD800 | ✗ |
| Unknown | ✓ |
| Pre Hillfort: | None |
| Post Hillfort: | Overlain by sheepfold |
Photographed from the air by Dennis Harding in 1983, and by RCAHMS Aerial Survey Programme in 2000, 2010 and 2013
| 1st Identified Map Depiction (1859): | Annotated Fort on the 1st edition OS 25-inch map (Roxburgh 1863, sheet 28.3) |
| Other (1884): | Noted (Geikie 1884, 141) |
| Earthwork Survey (1947): | Plan and description (RCAHMS 1956, 165-7, no.306, fig 195; RCAHMS RXD 124/1-3) |
| Other (1960): | Visited by the OS |
| Other (1961): | Scheduled |
| Other (1976): | Visited by the OS |
| Earthwork Survey (1983): | Overall plan of the fort and the surrounding field-system by SH |
| Other (1993): | Re-Scheduled |
| Other (2000): | Description by RCAHMS |
At least four stone-founded round-houses
None
| None | ✓ |
| Spring | ✗ |
| Stream | ✗ |
| Pool | ✗ |
| Flush | ✗ |
| Well | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
At least four
| No Known Features | ✗ |
| Round Stone Structures | ✓ |
| Rectangular Stone Structures | ✗ |
| Curvilinear Platforms | ✗ |
| Other Roundhouse Evidence | ✗ |
| Pits | ✗ |
| Quarry Hollows | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
None
| No Known Excavation | ✓ |
| Pits | ✗ |
| Postholes | ✗ |
| Roundhouses | ✗ |
| Rectangular Structures | ✗ |
| Roads/Tracks | ✗ |
| Quarry Hollows | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
| Nothing Found | ✗ |
None
| No Known Geophysics | ✓ |
| Pits | ✗ |
| Roundhouses | ✗ |
| Rectangular Structures | ✗ |
| Roads/Tracks | ✗ |
| Quarry Hollows | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
| Nothing Found | ✗ |
None
| No Known Finds | ✓ |
| Pottery | ✗ |
| Metal | ✗ |
| Metalworking | ✗ |
| Human Bones | ✗ |
| Animal Bones | ✗ |
| Lithics | ✗ |
| Environmental | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
None
| APs Not Checked | ✗ |
| None | ✗ |
| Roundhouses | ✓ |
| Rectangular Structures | ✗ |
| Pits | ✗ |
| Postholes | ✗ |
| Roads/Tracks | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
See main summary
| 2: | None |
| 2: | None |
Guard Chambers: ✗
Chevaux de Frise: ✗
| 1. Simple Gap (East): | Only the gap in the innermost rampart is visible |
| 1. Oblique (East): | Apparently approached obliquely exposing the visitor's right side |
| 2. Simple Gap (West): | Essentially a gap in the innermost rampart |
Triple ramparts and ditches enclosing the inner fort, within a larger enclosure which may be an addition
| Area 1: | 0.27ha. |
| Total: | 0.27ha. |
Total Footprint Area: 0.12ha.
None
| ✗ | None |
| ✓ | Includes the perimeter of the larger enclosure |
| NE Quadrant: | 5 |
| SE Quadrant: | 4 |
| SW Quadrant: | 3 |
| NW Quadrant: | 4 |
| Total: | 5 |
| Partial Univallate | ✗ |
| Univallate | ✗ |
| Partial Bivallate | ✗ |
| Bivallate | ✗ |
| Partial Multivallate | ✗ |
| Multivallate | ✓ |
| Unknown | ✗ |
| Partial Univallate | ✗ |
| Univallate | ✗ |
| Partial Bivallate | ✗ |
| Bivallate | ✗ |
| Partial Multivallate | ✗ |
| Multivallate | ✗ |
None
| None | ✗ |
| Earthen Bank | ✓ |
| Stone Wall | ✓ |
| Rubble | ✗ |
| Wall-walk | ✗ |
| Evidence of Timber | ✗ |
| Vitrification | ✗ |
| Other Burning | ✗ |
| Palisade | ✗ |
| Counter Scarp Bank | ✗ |
| Berm | ✗ |
| Unfinished | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
None
| None | ✗ |
| Earthen Bank | ✗ |
| Stone Wall | ✗ |
| Murus Duplex | ✗ |
| Timber-framed | ✗ |
| Timber-laced | ✗ |
| Vitrification | ✗ |
| Other Burning | ✗ |
| Palisade | ✗ |
| Counter Scarp Bank | ✗ |
| Berm | ✗ |
| Unfinished | ✗ |
| No Known Excavation | ✓ |
| Other | ✗ |
| ✗ | None |
| ✓ | None |
Number of Ditches: 4
| ✓ | The addition of an outer perimeter embracing the whole fort appears to have created an annexe on the NNE, bounded on the gently shelving ground on this flank by twin ramparts with a medial ditch to enclose a crescent-shaped area on this side of about 0.22ha. There are no traces of round-houses within this area. The secondary relationship to the defences of the fort is based on the observation that the inner rampart of the annexe diverts around the inner defences of the fort, but it should be noted that its perimeter in this sector has lost the coherence visible on the NE, the outer rampart with an internal ditch splaying to the W, and the inner flanked by discontinuous quarry ditches on either side for a short distance before the rampart diverts. In short, the perimeter may have been altered here, possibly creating a misleading impression of the relationship between the fort and the annexe. Including the fort, the overall area enclosed by the annexe defences measures about 125m from NNE to SSW by 75m transversely (0.8ha). |
Geikie, J (1884) «List of hill forts, intrenched camps, etc. in Roxburghshire on the Scotch side of the Cheviots». Hist Berwickshire Natur Club 10 (1882-4) 139-44
RCAHMS (1956) The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. An inventory of the ancient and historical monuments of Roxburghshire: with the fourteenth report of the Commission, 2v. HMSO: Edinburgh
Atlas of Hillforts:
Wikidata:
This work is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
and should be cited as:
Lock, Gary and Ralston, Ian. 2024. Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland. Available at: https://hillforts.arch.ox.ac.uk
Document Version 1.1