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HER:  Scottish Borders 51311 (None)
NMR:  NT 23 NW 4 (51311)
SM:  None
NGR:  NT 2270 3978
X:  322700  Y:  639780  (OSGB36)
This fort was situated on a spur of hard rock that projected from the SE flank of the hill above the A72 public road to the ENE of Edston, but the site proved a convenient source of roadstone and by 1974 had already been destroyed by quarrying. A plan drawn up when it was first discovered in 1952 by RCAHMS investigators, by which time the quarry had destroyed only the S and SE flanks, suggests that the interior was oval on plan, measuring about 71m from NE to SW by 49m transversely (0.27ha). They were of opinion that the inner rampart may have been continuous, though the two outer ramparts drawn across the NW flank evidently were not, hooking back onto the line of the inner along the lip of the steep slope on the NE. The junction here with the inner rampart had been destroyed by earlier quarrying, but on the WSW the plan appears to show the medial rampart turning back under the inner. Nevertheless, the investigators saw no reason to conclude that the defences were not parts of a single scheme, along with a linear earthwork set across the hillside immediately N, extending from the lip of the slope on the E to peter out on the W in an area of post-medieval cultivation. The entrance lay on the W and two circular house-platforms were identified within the interior.
Citizen Science:  ✗
Reliability of Data:  Confirmed
Reliability of Interpretation:  Confirmed
X:  -359537  Y:  7488152  (EPSG: 3857)
Longitude:  -3.2297777391713125  Latitude:  55.645429516958366  (EPSG:4326)
Country:  Scotland
Current County or Unitary Authority:  Scottish Borders
Historic County:  Peeblesshire
Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland:  Peebles
Destroyed by 1974
| Extant   | ✗ |
| Cropmark   | ✗ |
| Likely Destroyed   | ✓ |
Quarry
| 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:  243.0m
N/A
There is no recoverable evidence upon which to date this fort
Reliability:  D - None
| Pre 1200BC   | ✗ |
| 1200BC - 800BC   | ✗ |
| 800BC - 400BC   | ✗ |
| 400BC - AD50   | ✗ |
| AD50 - AD400   | ✗ |
| AD400 - AD 800   | ✗ |
| Post AD800   | ✗ |
| Unknown   | ✓ |
| Pre Hillfort:   | None |
| Post Hillfort:   | Destroyed by whinstone quarry |
None
| Earthwork Survey (1952):   | Plan and description having been discovered through RCAHMS Survey of Marginal Lands (RCAHMS 1967, 115-16, no.279, fig 96; RCAHMS PBD 105/1-3) |
| Other (1961):   | Visited by the OS |
| Other (1974):   | Revised at 1:2500 by the OS, who found that the fort had been completely removed |
Two house platforms
None
| None   | ✓ |
| Spring   | ✗ |
| Stream   | ✗ |
| Pool   | ✗ |
| Flush   | ✗ |
| Well   | ✗ |
| Other   | ✗ |
Two platforms
| 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   | ✗ |
NO APPARENT FEATURES
| APs Not Checked   | ✓ |
| None   | ✗ |
| Roundhouses   | ✗ |
| Rectangular Structures   | ✗ |
| Pits   | ✗ |
| Postholes   | ✗ |
| Roads/Tracks   | ✗ |
| Other   | ✗ |
See main summary
| 1:   | Large parts of the circuit destroyed by quarrying at the time it was first recorded in 1952 |
| 2:   | None |
Guard Chambers:  ✗
Chevaux de Frise:  ✗
| 1. Simple Gap (North west):   | None |
Three ramparts, probably representing at least two periods of construction, and a linear earthwork on the N
| Area 1:   | 0.27ha. |
| Total:   | 0.27ha. |
Total Footprint Area:  Noneha.
None
| ✓   | The sequence between the inner enclosure and the outer defences is implicit in the way it was drawn on plan by RCAHMS investigators |
| ✗   | None |
| NE Quadrant:   | 1 |
| SE Quadrant:   | 0 |
| SW Quadrant:   | 2 |
| NW Quadrant:   | 3 |
| Total:   | 3 |
| Partial Univallate   | ✓ |
| Univallate   | ✗ |
| Partial Bivallate   | ✓ |
| Bivallate   | ✗ |
| Partial Multivallate   | ✓ |
| Multivallate   | ✗ |
| Unknown   | ✗ |
| Partial Univallate   | ✗ |
| Univallate   | ✗ |
| Partial Bivallate   | ✗ |
| Bivallate   | ✗ |
| Partial Multivallate   | ✗ |
| Multivallate   | ✗ |
Grass-grown rubble at the time they were recorded
| 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:  None
| ✗   | None |
RCAHMS (1967) The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. Peeblesshire: an inventory of the ancient monuments, 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