LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade
Satellite Imagery
LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade
Satellite Imagery
Scroll left/right to view further images.
HER: Scottish Borders 57387 (None)
NMR: NT 64 SW 6 (57387)
SM: None
NGR: NT 6456 4375
X: 364560 Y: 643750 (OSGB36)
What is probably a fort is situated on the knoll immediately N of the disused railway line on the W side of the bridge carrying the A6089 public road northwards out of the village of Gordon. Traces of the defences, which were traditionally held to be a seat of the 'ancestors of the Duke of Gordon' (NSA, ii, Berwickshire, 34), remained visible into 19th century, but their character has only been revealed more recently by cropmarks in the field to the W of what was formerly Bogle Plantation. These show two ditches forming the NW half of an oval enclosure measuring internally up to 120m from NNE to SSW by at least 35m transversely, and possibly as much as 50m on the basis of the projected circuit and the contours within the old plantation; making some allowance for an inner rampart the interior may have enclosed about 0.35ha. The ditches are most clearly defined at the SW end where the outer ditch turns sharply out to either side of the causeway and unites with a third ditch, which can be traced for a short distance to either side, apparently on a convergent line. There is no corresponding gap in the rather broader innermost ditch, but at this point any trace of its terminals are lost in a large, almost square, macula. An isolated linear mark outside the defences on the N does not seem to be part of the fort and may be no more than an old trackway climbing the slope and appearing intermittently across the field to the W. Several irregular maculae are visible within the interior but their precise character is uncertain. While the features of the entrance are unusual there is no compelling reason to identify them as castle works, and in any case the Gordon's may have reoccupied an earlier fortification.
Citizen Science: ✗
Reliability of Data: Confirmed
Reliability of Interpretation: Confirmed
X: -285560 Y: 7496152 (EPSG: 3857)
Longitude: -2.565233524381658 Latitude: 55.68596230909623 (EPSG:4326)
Country: Scotland
Current County or Unitary Authority: Scottish Borders
Historic County: Berwickshire
Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland: Gordon
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: 175.0m
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: | Ploughed down and incorporated into a small plantation, this earthwork was traditionally held to be the site of a residence of the Dukes of Gordon |
A concentric ring symbol shown on Andrew and Mostyn Armstrong's Map of the County of Berwick (1771) to the NE of Gordon near a place called Castles has no known correlate and is possibly an attempt to represent this earthwork, which was evidently well-known in the district, with a castle association.
| 1st Identified Written Reference (1834): | Noted (NSA, ii, Berwickshire, 34) |
| 1st Identified Map Depiction (1858): | Named in Gothic type on the 1st edition OS 25-inch map (Berwick 1862, sheet 27.1; Name Book, Berwickshire, No.22, p38) |
| Other (1955): | Visited by the OS |
| Other (1979): | Visited by RCAHMS |
| Other (1989): | First photographed by RCAHMS Aerial Survey Programme |
| Other (1990): | Photographed by RCAHMS Aerial Survey Programme |
Several irregular maculae
None
| None | ✓ |
| Spring | ✗ |
| Stream | ✗ |
| Pool | ✗ |
| Flush | ✗ |
| Well | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
None
| 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 | ✗ |
Several irregular maculae
| APs Not Checked | ✗ |
| None | ✗ |
| Roundhouses | ✗ |
| Rectangular Structures | ✗ |
| Pits | ✗ |
| Postholes | ✗ |
| Roads/Tracks | ✗ |
| Other | ✓ |
See main summary
| 1: | None |
| 2: | None |
Guard Chambers: ✗
Chevaux de Frise: ✗
| 1. Passage-way/Corridor (South west): | The two outer ditches unite to either side of the causeway |
At least two ditches, presumably with upcast ramparts, and an additional ditch at the entrance
| Area 1: | 0.35ha. |
| Total: | 0.35ha. |
Total Footprint Area: Noneha.
None
| ✗ | None |
| ✗ | None |
| NE Quadrant: | 0 |
| SE Quadrant: | 0 |
| SW Quadrant: | 3 |
| NW Quadrant: | 2 |
| Total: | 3 |
| 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 |
| ✓ | With a third for a short distance to either side of the entrance |
Number of Ditches: 2
| ✗ | None |
Name Book, Ordnance Survey Object Name Books (6 inch and 1/2500 scale); available https://www.scotlandsplaces.gov.uk/
NSA (1834-1845) The new statistical account of Scotland by the ministers of the respective parishes under the superintendence of a committee of the society for the benefit of the sons and daughters of the clergy.
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