Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland

SC3671 Smithfield, Peeblesshire

LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade

LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade

Satellite Imagery

Satellite Imagery

Scroll left/right to view further images.

HER:  Scottish Borders 51474 (None)

NMR:  NT 24 SE 38 (51474)

SM:  None

NGR:  NT 2696 4096

X:  326960  Y:  640960  (OSGB36)

Summary

This small fort or fortified settlement is situated on the rounded summit of the ridge N of Janet's Brae and lies beneath a dense cover of coniferous forest. Oval on plan, RCAHMS investigators considered that its defences comprised three ramparts, though the innermost was missing on the E, but a subsequent visit by the OS could find no trace of the innermost at all. The measurements taken by the RCAHMS of about 53m from NE to SW by 47m transversely (0.19ha) are thus minimam, and if their middle rampart is actually the inner defence, the dimensions increase to 67m and 48m respectively (0.25ha). The ramparts are in any case reduced to low scarps no more than 0.7m high, and the outer is accompanied by a traces of an external ditch on the NE. The interior is featureless and the position of the entrance is not known.

Status

Citizen Science:  

Reliability of Data:  Confirmed

Reliability of Interpretation:  Confirmed

Location

X:  -352039  Y:  7490374  (EPSG: 3857)

Longitude:  -3.162420473641554  Latitude:  55.65668963713363  (EPSG:4326)

Country:  Scotland

Current County or Unitary Authority:  Scottish Borders

Historic County:  Peeblesshire

Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland:  Peebles

Monument Condition

None

Condition:
Extant  
Cropmark  
Likely Destroyed  

Land Use

None

Current Use:
Woodland  
Commercial Forestry Plantation  
Parkland  
Pasture (Grazing)  
Arable  
Scrub/Bracken  
Bare Outcrop  
Heather/Moorland  
Heath  
Built-up  
Coastal Grassland  
Other  

Landscape

Hillfort Type

None

Type:
Contour Fort  
Partial Contour Fort  
Promontory Fort  
Hillslope Fort  
Level Terrain Fort  
Marsh Fort  
Multiple Enclosure Fort  

Topographic Position

Position:
Hilltop  
Coastal Promontory  
Inland Promontory  
Valley Bottom  
Knoll/Hillock/Outcrop  
Ridge  
Cliff/Plateau-edge/Scarp  
Hillslope  
Lowland  
Spur  

Dominant Topographic Feature:  None

Aspect:
North  
Northeast  
East  
Southeast  
South  
Southwest  
West  
Northwest  
Level  

Altitude:  360.0m

Boundary

N/A


Dating Evidence

In the absence of excavation, there are neither stratified artefacts nor radiocarbon dates to provide a chronology for the defences.

Reliability:  D - None

Principal Activity:
Pre 1200BC  
1200BC - 800BC  
800BC - 400BC  
400BC - AD50  
AD50 - AD400  
AD400 - AD 800  
Post AD800  
Unknown  

Other Activity:
Pre Hillfort:   None
Post Hillfort:   Planted with trees since the early 19th century

Evidence:No related records

Investigation History

None

Investigations:
1st Identified Map Depiction (1856):   Annotated Fort on the 1st edition OS 25-inch map (Peebles 1859, sheet 13.7)
Other (1886):   Sketch-plan and description by David Christison (1887, 64)
Earthwork Survey (1959):   Plan and description (RCAHMS 1967, 141-2, no.317, fig 131; RCAHMS DP224540-1)
Other (1962):   Visited by the OS
Other (1974):   Visited by the OS

Interior Features

Featureless

Water Source

None

Source:
None  
Spring  
Stream  
Pool  
Flush  
Well  
Other  

Surface

Under old plantations

Interior Features (Surface):
No Known Features  
Round Stone Structures  
Rectangular Stone Structures  
Curvilinear Platforms  
Other Roundhouse Evidence  
Pits  
Quarry Hollows  
Other  

Excavation

None

Interior Features (Excavation):
No Known Excavation  
Pits  
Postholes  
Roundhouses  
Rectangular Structures  
Roads/Tracks  
Quarry Hollows  
Other  
Nothing Found  

Geophysics

None

Interior Features (Geophysics):
No Known Geophysics  
Pits  
Roundhouses  
Rectangular Structures  
Roads/Tracks  
Quarry Hollows  
Other  
Nothing Found  

Finds

None

Interior (Finds):
No Known Finds  
Pottery  
Metal  
Metalworking  
Human Bones  
Animal Bones  
Lithics  
Environmental  
Other  

Aerial

Obscured by trees

Interior Features (Aerial):
APs Not Checked  
None  
Roundhouses  
Rectangular Structures  
Pits  
Postholes  
Roads/Tracks  
Other  

Entrances

Not known

Total Number of Breaks Through Ramparts:  
0:   None

Number of Possible Original Entrances:  
2:   None known

Guard Chambers:  

Chevaux de Frise:  

Entrances:No related records

Enclosing Works

Two or three ramparts according to different sources, giving internal dimensions of either 0.19ha or 0.25ha; two ramparts the larger interior are preferred here.

Enclosed Area:
Area 1:   0.25ha.
Total:   0.25ha.

Total Footprint Area:  Noneha.

Ramparts

None

Multi-period Enclosure System:
✗   None

Ramparts Form a Continuous Circuit:
✓   This assumes the OS are correct

Number of Ramparts:  
NE Quadrant:   2
SE Quadrant:   1
SW Quadrant:   2
NW Quadrant:   2
Total:   2

Morphology

Current Morphology:
Partial Univallate  
Univallate  
Partial Bivallate  
Bivallate  
Partial Multivallate  
Multivallate  
Unknown  

Detailed Morphology:
Partial Univallate  
Univallate  
Partial Bivallate  
Bivallate  
Partial Multivallate  
Multivallate  

Surface Evidence

None

Enclosing Works (Surface):
None  
Earthen Bank  
Stone Wall  
Rubble  
Wall-walk  
Evidence of Timber  
Vitrification  
Other Burning  
Palisade  
Counter Scarp Bank  
Berm  
Unfinished  
Other  

Excavated Evidence

None

Enclosing Works (Excavation):
None  
Earthen Bank  
Stone Wall  
Murus Duplex  
Timber-framed  
Timber-laced  
Vitrification  
Other Burning  
Palisade  
Counter Scarp Bank  
Berm  
Unfinished  
No Known Excavation  
Other  

Other

Gang Working:
✗   None

Ditches:
✓   None

Number of Ditches:  1

Annex:
✗   None

References

Christison, D (1887) 'The prehistoric forts of Peeblesshire'. Proc Soc Antiq Scot 21 (1886-7), 13-82

RCAHMS (1967) The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. Peeblesshire: an inventory of the ancient monuments, 2v. HMSO: Edinburgh



Terms of Use

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