Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland

SC3847 Green Castle, East Lothian (Newlands Burn)

LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade

LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade

Satellite Imagery

Satellite Imagery

Scroll left/right to view further images.

HER:  East Lothian Council MEL685 (None)

NMR:  NT 56 NE 3 (56084)

SM:  747

NGR:  NT 5818 6569

X:  358180  Y:  665690  (OSGB36)

Summary

This fortification occupies a promontory that has been isolated by natural gullies to form a steep-sided hillock. Roughly triangular on plan, it measures 68m from NE to SW by 58m transversely (0.3ha) within the inner rampart, though for much of the circuit this has been reduced to little more than a raised lip. Partly exploiting a natural gully on the SE, the rampart is also accompanied by a massive external ditch, which has been sunk some 6m below the level of the interior on the SE, and carried around the NE end and along the N flank. An outer rampart has also been piled up along its counterscarp, and a second ditch has been dug along the SE flank from the NE end. On the SW, the deeply incised stream gully seems to replace the inner ditch, and the outer bank and ditch have been continued along the lip of the escarpment forming its far side of the gully. The entrance is on the W, approached from the N by a trackway which mounts the slope between the end of the outer rampart and the burn and turns in between the terminals of the inner rampart at the NW end of the SW side. Traces of a rectangular structure are visible within the interior. The character of the defences is unusual and shares more in common with medieval earthwork castles than Iron Age forts.

Status

Citizen Science:  

Reliability of Data:  Confirmed

Reliability of Interpretation:  Confirmed

Location

X:  -297231  Y:  7535075  (EPSG: 3857)

Longitude:  -2.6700757493759717  Latitude:  55.8825747378007  (EPSG:4326)

Country:  Scotland

Current County or Unitary Authority:  East Lothian

Historic County:  East Lothian

Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland:  Garvald And Bara

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:  290.0m

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, probably since 1773

Evidence:No related records

Investigation History

Photographed by CUCAP in 1953, and RCAHMS Aerial Survey Programme in 1982, 1983, 1988, 2008 and 2010

Investigations:
1st Identified Map Depiction (1773):   Concentric ring symbol on Andrew and Mostyn Armstrong's Map of the three Lothians (1773)
1st Identified Written Reference (1794):   Noted (Stat Acct, xiii, 1794. 362n)
Other (1853):   Annotated Fort on the 1st edition OS 6-inch map (Haddingtonshire 1855, sheet 15)
Other (1892):   Depicted on the OS 25-inch map (Haddingtonshire 1894, sheet 16.9)
Earthwork Survey (1913):   Plan and description (RCAHMS 1924, 32-3, no.46, fig 67; RCAHMS ELD 76/2V & ELD 12/1-4)
Other (1923):   Scheduled
Other (1954):   Description during RCAHMS Survey of Marginal Lands (Feachem 1963, 123)
Other (1965):   Resurveyed at 1:2500 by the OS
Other (1969):   Re-Scheduled
Other (1979):   Visited by the OS

Interior Features

Traces of a rectangular structure can be seen within the interior.

Water Source

None

Source:
None  
Spring  
Stream  
Pool  
Flush  
Well  
Other  

Surface

None

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

NO APPARENT FEATURES

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

Entrances

See main summary

Total Number of Breaks Through Ramparts:  
1:   None

Number of Possible Original Entrances:  
2:   None

Guard Chambers:  

Chevaux de Frise:  

Entrances:
1. Simple Gap (West):   None

Enclosing Works

Two ramparts with a medial ditch, with an additional ditch on two sides

Enclosed Area:
Area 1:   0.3ha.
Total:   0.3ha.

Total Footprint Area:  1.1ha.

Ramparts

None

Multi-period Enclosure System:
✗   None

Ramparts Form a Continuous Circuit:
✓   None

Number of Ramparts:  
NE Quadrant:   2
SE Quadrant:   2
SW Quadrant:   1
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:
✓   a second ditch on two sides

Number of Ditches:  2

Annex:
✗   None

References

Feachem, R W (1963) A guide to prehistoric Scotland. Batsford: London

RCAHMS (1924) The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments and Constructions of Scotland. Eighth report with Inventory of Monuments and Constructions in the County of East Lothian. 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