Scroll left/right to view further images.
HER:  Scottish Borders 53010 (None)
NMR:  NT 30 SE 1 (53010)
SM:  None
NGR:  NT 3860 0316
X:  338600  Y:  603160  (OSGB36)
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.
Citizen Science:  ✗
Reliability of Data:  Confirmed
Reliability of Interpretation:  Confirmed
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
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:  260.0m
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:   | Partly ploughed down by post-medieval cultivation and overlain by field banks |
Photographed by CUCAP and in 1997 by RCAHMS Aerial Survey Programme
| 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 |
Featureless apart from an oval scoop on the N
None
| None   | ✓ |
| Spring   | ✗ |
| Stream   | ✗ |
| Pool   | ✗ |
| Flush   | ✗ |
| Well   | ✗ |
| Other   | ✗ |
Oval scoop
| 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   | ✗ |
Oval scoop
| APs Not Checked   | ✗ |
| None   | ✗ |
| Roundhouses   | ✗ |
| Rectangular Structures   | ✗ |
| Pits   | ✗ |
| Postholes   | ✗ |
| Roads/Tracks   | ✗ |
| Other   | ✓ |
See main summary
| 4:   | None |
| 2:   | None |
Guard Chambers:  ✗
Chevaux de Frise:  ✗
| 1. Simple Gap (East):   | None |
| 2. Simple Gap (West):   | None |
Twin ramparts and a medial ditch, with outer ditch on one side
| Area 1:   | 0.27ha. |
| Total:   | 0.27ha. |
Total Footprint Area:  0.61ha.
None
| ✗   | The outer ditch is quite likely to belong to an earlier phase, but it is not possible to demonstrate the stratigraphi relationship without excavation |
| ✓   | None |
| NE Quadrant:   | 2 |
| SE Quadrant:   | 2 |
| SW Quadrant:   | 2 |
| 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 |
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
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