Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland

SC3241 Caerlan Rig, Roxburghshire (Carlenrig)

LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade

LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade

Satellite Imagery

Satellite Imagery

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HER:  Scottish Borders 53010 (None)

NMR:  NT 30 SE 1 (53010)

SM:  None

NGR:  NT 3860 0316

X:  338600  Y:  603160  (OSGB36)

Summary

This small fort or fortified settlement is bisected by the road that extends up Caerlan Rig, but rather than occupying a position on the crest of the ridge, it exploits the lip of the steep slope dropping away along its SE flank to provide a measure of natural protection. Sub-rectangular on plan, the sloping interior measures about 60m from NE to SW by 50m transversely (0.27ha). The defences comprise twin ramparts with a medial ditch, and though the ramparts have been heavily reduced all round the circuit the ditch still measures up to 7m in breadth by 1.2m in depth. In addition there are traces of an outer ditch about 6m in breadth on the SW, but this is not strictly concentric to the inner and is possibly the remains of an earlier layout of the defences, enclosing a larger area of about 0.35ha. In addition to the gaps punched through the defences on the NE and SW by the construction of the road, there is a broad gap at the W corner which may be original, and possibly a second in the heavily ploughed down sector of the SE side near the E corner. The only feature visible within the interior is a shallow scoop on the N measuring about 15m by 10m transversely.

Status

Citizen Science:  ✗

Reliability of Data:  Confirmed

Reliability of Interpretation:  Confirmed

Location

X:  -330516  Y:  7423966  (EPSG: 3857)

Longitude:  -2.969079656623537  Latitude:  55.31869489300731  (EPSG:4326)

Country:  Scotland

Current County or Unitary Authority:  Scottish Borders

Historic County:  Roxburghshire

Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland:  Teviothead

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:  260.0m

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:   Partly ploughed down by post-medieval cultivation and overlain by field banks

Evidence:No related records

Investigation History

Photographed by CUCAP and in 1997 by RCAHMS Aerial Survey Programme

Investigations:
1st Identified Map Depiction (1858):   Annotated Camp in Roman type on the 1st edition OS 6-inch map (Roxburghshire 1863, sheet 37)
Earthwork Survey (1948):   Plan and description (RCAHMS 1956, 445, no.1004, fig 590)
Other (1962):   Revised at 1:10,560 by the OS

Interior Features

Featureless apart from an oval scoop on the N

Water Source

None

Source:
None   ✓
Spring   ✗
Stream   ✗
Pool   ✗
Flush   ✗
Well   ✗
Other   ✗

Surface

Oval scoop

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

Oval scoop

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:  
4:   None

Number of Possible Original Entrances:  
2:   None

Guard Chambers:  ✗

Chevaux de Frise:  ✗

Entrances:
1. Simple Gap (East):   None
2. Simple Gap (West):   None

Enclosing Works

Twin ramparts and a medial ditch, with outer ditch on one side

Enclosed Area:
Area 1:   0.27ha.
Total:   0.27ha.

Total Footprint Area:  0.61ha.

Ramparts

None

Multi-period Enclosure System:
✗   The outer ditch is quite likely to belong to an earlier phase, but it is not possible to demonstrate the stratigraphi relationship without excavation

Ramparts Form a Continuous Circuit:
✓   None

Number of Ramparts:  
NE Quadrant:   2
SE Quadrant:   2
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:  2

Annex:
✗   None

References

RCAHMS (1956) The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. An inventory of the ancient and historical monuments of Roxburghshire: with the fourteenth report of the Commission, 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


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