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HER:  Scottish Borders 59901 (None)
NMR:  NT 86 SE 6 (59901)
SM:  12491
NGR:  NT 8992 6154
X:  389920  Y:  661546  (OSGB36)
This fort or fortified settlement is situated on the summit of a low rounded hill in the angle of the track leading from East Reston down to East Reston Mill. Oval on plan, it measures about 70m from ESE to WNW by 50m transversely (0.27ha) within two roughly concentric ditches set between 7m and 10m apart. The ditches range from 3m to 5m in breadth and a large macula at the ESE end of the interior, almost certainly representing the eastern side of the shallow depression in the surface of the field observed by OS surveyors in 1966, has preserved the scar of a rampart some 4m in thickness on the ENE; allowing for its presence around the rest of the circuit, the interior enclosed about 0.2ha. In addition to the evidence of scooping at the ESE end of the interior, there are several other irregular maculae within the interior, though whether they indicate the stances of structures or simply other fragments of a scooped yard cannot be determined without excavation. The entrance is not visible but probably lies in the southern sector where it is hidden by the edge of the field and the adjacent track. There is no stratigraphic evidence to demonstrate whether the two ditches are elements of a single scheme, but if the were successive and the outer was once free-standing, it would have enclosed about 0.45ha within its rampart.
Citizen Science:  ✗
Reliability of Data:  Confirmed
Reliability of Interpretation:  Confirmed
X:  -240734  Y:  7528029  (EPSG: 3857)
Longitude:  -2.1625473165975473  Latitude:  55.847056648230804  (EPSG:4326)
Country:  Scotland
Current County or Unitary Authority:  Scottish Borders
Historic County:  Berwickshire
Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland:  Coldingham
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:  78.0m
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 flat |
Photographed by CUCAP in 1948, 1959, 1968, 1970, 1971, 1975 and 1979, by John Dewar in 1976 (held by RCAHMS), by Dennis Harding in 1979, and by RCAHMS Aerial Survey Programme in 1976, 1977, 1979, 1984, 1986, 1989, 1990, 1993, 1998, 1999 and 2015
1st Identified Written Reference (1948):   | First photographed by CUCAP |
1st Identified Map Depiction (1966):   | Site shown on 1:10,000 map (1973) |
Other (1979):   | Visited by RCAHMS |
Other (2009):   | Scheduled |
Area of scooping and several other 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   | ✗ |
Area of scooping and several other irregular maculae
APs Not Checked   | ✗ |
None   | ✗ |
Roundhouses   | ✗ |
Rectangular Structures   | ✗ |
Pits   | ✗ |
Postholes   | ✗ |
Roads/Tracks   | ✗ |
Other   | ✓ |
See main summary
0:   | None |
2:   | Not known but probably in the southern sector |
Guard Chambers:  ✗
Chevaux de Frise:  ✗
Twin ditches, presumably with upcast ramparts.
Area 1:   | 0.2ha. |
Total:   | 0.2ha. |
Total Footprint Area:  Noneha.
None
✗   | No evidence to suggest that the two ditches are not elements of a single scheme, but if the outer was once free-standing, it would have enclosed about 0.45ha within its rampart |
✓   | None |
NE Quadrant:   | 2 |
SE Quadrant:   | 2 |
SW Quadrant:   | 1 |
NW Quadrant:   | 2 |
Total:   | 2 |
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:  2
✗   | None |
No related records
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