Satellite Imagery
Satellite Imagery
HER: Scottish Borders 51471 (None)
NMR: NT 24 SE 35 (51471)
SM: 3028
NGR: NT 2678 4043
X: 326780 Y: 640430 (OSGB36)
This fort is situated at the S end of a spur that descends gently from the N, at the point where the ground falls away sharply to the S; the site, however, is neither a summit nor level, sloping down gently towards the W, and the defences exploit a minor declivity in the contours on the E. The main defences comprise two ramparts with external ditches, which can be traced round the greater part of the circuit, disappearing only in places on the S. Where best preserved, on the N and E, the inner rampart stands up to 0.9m in height internally and 3m above the bottom of its ditch, while the outer rampart is up to 1.2m high; the shallow outer ditch can be seen on the NE and NW sectors, on the latter accompanied by a counterscarp bank. About 10m in advane of the defences on the NE, which is the easiest line of approach, a third rampart and ditch can be seen cutting across the crest of the spur. The oval interior measures about 76m from ESE to WNW by 59m transversely (0.35ha), and there is an entrance on the WNW.
Citizen Science: ✗
Reliability of Data: Confirmed
Reliability of Interpretation: Confirmed
X: -352342 Y: 7489429 (EPSG: 3857)
Longitude: -3.1651392338320994 Latitude: 55.65190125095199 (EPSG:4326)
Country: Scotland
Current County or Unitary Authority: Scottish Borders
Historic County: Peeblesshire
Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland: Peebles
None
| Extant | ✓ |
| Cropmark | ✗ |
| Likely Destroyed | ✗ |
Clearing in an extensive forest
| 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: 305.0m
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: | Planted with trees in the early 19th century |
None
| 1st Identified Map Depiction (1775): | Concentric ring on a hill symbol on Mostyn Armstrong's map of The County of Peebles or Tweedale (1775) |
| Other (1856): | Annotated Fort on the 1st edition OS 25-inch map (Peebles 1859, sheet 13.7) |
| Other (1863): | Description by William Chambers (1864, 29, 38) |
| Earthwork Survey (1886): | Sketch-plan and description by David Christison (1887, 43-4, fig 30) |
| Earthwork Survey (1959): | Plan and description (RCAHMS 1967, 125, no.292, fig 108; RCAHMS PBD 117/1-2) |
| Other (1962): | Visited by the OS |
| Other (1971): | Scheduled |
| Other (1974): | Visited by the OS |
| Other (1988): | Cleared of trees |
| Other (2000): | Re-Scheduled |
| Earthwork Survey (2013): | Rubicon Heritage on behalf of the Forestry Commission (Baker & O'Flaherty 2014) |
Featureless
David Christison noted a depression with some rushes within the interior as the only evidence he had seen in Peeblesshire to indicate that a fort may have had an internal water supply. It has not been identified by investigators since
| 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 | ✗ |
NO APPARENT FEATURES
| APs Not Checked | ✗ |
| None | ✓ |
| Roundhouses | ✗ |
| Rectangular Structures | ✗ |
| Pits | ✗ |
| Postholes | ✗ |
| Roads/Tracks | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
See main summary
| 2: | Sectors of rampart apparently missing on the S and SE |
| 2: | None |
Guard Chambers: ✗
Chevaux de Frise: ✗
| 1. Simple Gap (West): | None |
Two main ramparts and ditches round most of the circuit with an outlying rampart and ditch on the NE
| Area 1: | 0.35ha. |
| Total: | 0.35ha. |
Total Footprint Area: Noneha.
None
| ✗ | None |
| ✗ | None |
| NE Quadrant: | 3 |
| 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 | ✗ |
The claim that the slightness of the third rampart and ditch in the NE sector indicates that it may be unfinished cannot be sustained.
| 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 |
Baker, L & O'Flaherty, E (2014) Archaeological Measured Survey of Janet's Brae Forts, Scottish Borders, Unpublished report
Barclay, G J (1989) 'Janet's Brae (Peebles parish), forts'. Disc Exc Scot (1989), 8
Chambers, W (1864) A History of Peeblesshire. William and Robert Chambers: Edinburgh and London
Christison, D (1887) 'The prehistoric forts of Peeblesshire'. Proc Soc Antiq Scot 21 (1886-7), 13-82
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