Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland
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HER: Scottish Borders 57260
NMR: NT 63 SW 46 (57260)
SM: ✗
NGR: NT 6130 3441
X: 361302 Y: 634413 (EPSG:27700)
Boundary: ✗
Summary
Cropmarks have revealed the site of a fort or fortified settlement on a low ridge SE of Spadislee. It lies at the intersection of four hedgerows on the SE side of the ridge's broad crest, at the top of a long slope dropping away to the NW side of Bemersyde Moss. Oval on plan, it measures about 80m NE to SW by 70m transversely (0.43ha) within a ditch between 4m and 5m in breadth, and there is a broad entrance on the ENE; allowing for an internal rampart, the interior encloses about 0.35ha, but apart from a large macula over 20m across on the SE, appears featureless. Some 10m outside the ditch around the SE half of the circuit there is a second ditch about 3m broad, but the gap between the ditches on the NE opens up to 30m; while this might be interpreted as an annexe added to the inner enclosure, it is just as likely to be the remains of a free-standing earlier enclosure, though there is no stratigraphic evidence for the sequence of their construction. The outer enclosure takes in an area measuring about 130m from NE to SW by 90m transversely (0.9ha).
Status
| Reliability of Data: | Confirmed | |
| Reliability of Interpretation: | Confirmed | |
Location
X: -291182 Y: 7479554 (EPSG: 3857)
Longitude: -2.615732 Latitude: 55.601821 (EPSG:4326)
Country: Scotland
Current County or Unitary Authority: Scottish Borders
Historic County: Berwickshire
Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland: Mertoun
Condition
| Extant: | ✗ |
| Cropmark: | ✓ |
| Likely Destroyed: | ✗ |
Land Use
| Woodland: | ✗ |
| Commercial Forestry Plantation: | ✗ |
| Parkland: | ✗ |
| Pasture (Grazing): | ✗ |
| Arable: | ✓ |
| Scrub/Bracken: | ✗ |
| Bare Outcrop: | ✗ |
| Heather/Moorland: | ✗ |
| Heath: | ✗ |
| Built-up: | ✗ |
| Coastal Grassland: | ✗ |
| Other: | ✗ |
Landscape
Hillfort Type
| Contour Fort: | ✓ |
| Partial Contour Fort: | ✗ |
| Promontory Fort: | ✗ |
| Hillslope Fort: | ✗ |
| Level Terrain Fort: | ✗ |
| Marsh Fort: | ✗ |
| Multiple Enclosure Fort: | ✗ |
Topographic Position
| Hilltop: | ✗ |
| Coastal Promontory: | ✗ |
| Inland Promontory: | ✗ |
| Valley Bottom: | ✗ |
| Knoll/Hillock/Outcrop: | ✓ |
| Ridge: | ✗ |
| Cliff/Plateau-edge/Scarp: | ✗ |
| Hillslope: | ✗ |
| Lowland: | ✗ |
| Spur: | ✗ |
Dominant Topographic Feature: ✗
Aspect
| North: | ✗ |
| Northeast: | ✗ |
| East: | ✗ |
| Southeast: | ✗ |
| South: | ✗ |
| Southwest: | ✗ |
| West: | ✗ |
| Northwest: | ✗ |
| Level: | ✓ |
Elevation
Altitude: 152.0m
Boundary
Second HER: ✗
Second Current County or Unitary Authority: ✗
Second Historic County: ✗
Second Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland: ✗
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
| Pre 1200BC: | ✗ |
| 1200BC - 800BC: | ✗ |
| 1200BC - 800BC: | ✗ |
| 400BC - AD50: | ✗ |
| AD50 - AD400: | ✗ |
| AD400 - AD 800: | ✗ |
| Post AD800: | ✗ |
| Unknown: | ✓ |
| Post Hillfort Activity: | ✓ | Overlain by hedgerows displaying a reverse-S shape and ploughed flat |
Interior Features
Large maculae
Water Source
| None: | ✓ |
| Spring: | ✗ |
| Stream: | ✗ |
| Pool: | ✗ |
| Flush: | ✗ |
| Well: | ✗ |
| Other: | ✗ |
Surface
| No Known Features: | ✓ |
| Round Stone Structures: | ✗ |
| Rectangular Stone Structures: | ✗ |
| Curvilinear Platforms: | ✗ |
| Other Roundhouse Evidence: | ✗ |
| Pits: | ✗ |
| Quarry Hollows: | ✗ |
| Other: | ✗ |
Excavation
| No Known Excavation: | ✓ |
| Pits: | ✗ |
| Postholes: | ✗ |
| Roundhouses: | ✗ |
| Rectangular Structures: | ✗ |
| Roads/Tracks: | ✗ |
| Quarry Hollows: | ✗ |
| Other: | ✗ |
| Nothing Found: | ✗ |
Geophysics
| No Known Geophysics: | ✓ |
| Pits: | ✗ |
| Roundhouses: | ✗ |
| Rectangular Structures: | ✗ |
| Roads/Tracks: | ✗ |
| Quarry Hollows: | ✗ |
| Other: | ✗ |
| Nothing Found: | ✗ |
Finds
| No Known Finds: | ✓ |
| Pottery: | ✗ |
| Metal: | ✗ |
| Metalworking: | ✗ |
| Human Bones: | ✗ |
| Animal Bones: | ✗ |
| Lithics: | ✗ |
| Environmental: | ✗ |
| Other: | ✗ |
Aerial
Large maculae over 20m across
| APs Not Checked: | ✗ |
| None: | ✗ |
| Roundhouses: | ✗ |
| Rectangular Structures: | ✗ |
| Pits: | ✗ |
| Postholes: | ✗ |
| Roads/Tracks: | ✗ |
| Other: | ✓ |
Entrances
See main summary
| Total Number of Breaks Through Ramparts: | 1: | Whole perimeter ploughed flat |
| Number of Possible Original Entrances: | | |
Guard Chambers: ✗
Enclosing Works
Two ecentric ditches probably representing two periods of construction
| Enclosed Area 1: | 0.35ha. |
| Enclosed Area 2: | ✗ |
| Enclosed Area 3: | ✗ |
| Enclosed Area 4: | ✗ |
| Total Enclosed Area: | 0.3ha. |
Total Footprint Area: ✗
| Multi-period Enclosure System: | ✗ | |
| Ramparts Form a Continuous Circuit: | ✓ | The eccentric and narrower outer ditch is excluded |
| Number of Ramparts NE Quadrant: | 1 |
| Number of Ramparts SE Quadrant: | 1 |
| Number of Ramparts SW Quadrant: | 1 |
| Number of Ramparts NW Quadrant: | 1 |
Current Morphology
| Partial Univallate: | ✗ |
| Univallate: | ✓ |
| Partial Bivallate: | ✗ |
| Bivallate: | ✗ |
| Partial Multivallate: | ✗ |
| Multivallate: | ✗ |
| Unknown: | ✗ |
Multi-period Morphology
| Partial Univallate: | ✗ |
| Univallate: | ✗ |
| Partial Bivallate: | ✗ |
| Bivallate: | ✗ |
| Partial Multivallate: | ✗ |
| Multivallate: | ✗ |
Surface Evidence
| None: | ✓ |
| Earthen Bank: | ✗ |
| Stone Wall: | ✗ |
| Rubble: | ✗ |
| Wall-walk: | ✗ |
| Evidence of Timber: | ✗ |
| Vitrification: | ✗ |
| Other Burning: | ✗ |
| Palisade: | ✗ |
| Counter Scarp Bank: | ✗ |
| Berm: | ✗ |
| Unfinished: | ✗ |
| Other: | ✗ |
Excavated Evidence
| None: | ✗ |
| Earthen Bank: | ✗ |
| Stone Wall: | ✗ |
| Murus Duplex: | ✗ |
| Timber-framed: | ✗ |
| Timber-laced: | ✗ |
| Vitrification: | ✗ |
| Other Burning: | ✗ |
| Palisade: | ✗ |
| Counter Scarp Bank: | ✗ |
| Berm: | ✗ |
| Unfinished: | ✗ |
| No Known Excavation: | ✓ |
| Other: | ✗ |
Ditches
Ditches: ✓
| Number of Ditches: | 1: | The eccentric and narrower outer ditch is omitted as it is probably an independent enclosure |
Annex
| Annex: | ✗ | The outer enclosure might be interpreted as an additional annexe to the main fortified enclosure, but it is more likely to represent an independent phase |
References
Jones, R F J (1991) The Newstead project'. Univ Bradford Archaeol Sci Annu Rep (1990-1), 5th annual report
