Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland

SC4031 Hareheugh Craigs, Berwickshire (Stenmuir)

LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade

LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade

Satellite Imagery

Satellite Imagery

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HER:  Scottish Borders 57351 (None)

NMR:  NT 64 SE 5 (57351)

SM:  4783

NGR:  NT 6877 4005

X:  368770  Y:  640050  (OSGB36)

Summary

This fort is situated on the crest of the rocky crag and tail formation known as Hareheugh Craigs, which forms the NW shoulder of the higher ground to the W of Sweethope Hill. Roughly oval on plan, the stony rampart follows the contours of the outcrops and encloses an area measuring about 105m from ENE to WSW by 34m transversely (0.29ha). The rampart has been severely reduced, but several outer facing stones are visible on its SE flank. Robert Kinghorn, who discovered the fort about 1934, noted four circular platforms along the S side, two of which are visible on satellite imagery, and a survey carried out in 1999 as part of a wider evaluation identified others (Ellis 1999), though the hard rocky spine of the hillock occupies most of the interior. Kinghorn identified three entrances, on the NE, ENE and WSW respectively, but RCAHMS investigators who visited in 1979 noted only the gap in the rampart on the ENE, which opens onto the gently sloping tail rising up to the crest of the crags.

Status

Citizen Science:  ✗

Reliability of Data:  Confirmed

Reliability of Interpretation:  Confirmed

Location

X:  -278060  Y:  7489647  (EPSG: 3857)

Longitude:  -2.4978536787989247  Latitude:  55.65300774587705  (EPSG:4326)

Country:  Scotland

Current County or Unitary Authority:  Scottish Borders

Historic County:  Berwickshire

Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland:  Hume

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:  216.0m

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:   None

Evidence:No related records

Investigation History

Photographed from the air by John Dent in 1992

Investigations:
Earthwork Survey (1934):   Plan and description by Robert Kinghorn (1935, 161-3, fig 4)
1st Identified Map Depiction (1955):   Visited by the OS in 1955
Other (1963):   Surveyed at 1:2500 by the OS
Other (1979):   Description by RCAHMS
Other (1987):   Scheduled
Earthwork Survey (1999):   Part of the evaluation by AOC Archaeology (Ellis 1999)
Other (2001):   Re-Scheduled

Interior Features

At least four circular platforms identified

Water Source

None

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

Surface

At least four and possibly others

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

Two visible in the middle of the SE side

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:  
1:   None

Number of Possible Original Entrances:  
2:   Two others claimed previously but not accepted by RCAHMS investigators in 1979

Guard Chambers:  ✗

Chevaux de Frise:  ✗

Entrances:
1. Simple Gap (North east):   A gap in the ENE end

Enclosing Works

Single rampart

Enclosed Area:
Area 1:   0.29ha.
Total:   0.29ha.

Total Footprint Area:  Noneha.

Ramparts

None

Multi-period Enclosure System:
✗   None

Ramparts Form a Continuous Circuit:
✓   None

Number of Ramparts:  
NE Quadrant:   1
SE Quadrant:   1
SW Quadrant:   1
NW Quadrant:   1
Total:   1

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:  None

Annex:
✗   None

References

Ellis, C (1999) 'Hareheugh Craigs (Hume parish), evaluation'. Disc Exc Scot (1999), 76

Kinghorn, R (1935) 'Unrecorded Berwickshire antiquities, being the Chalmers-Jervise Prize essay for 1933'. Proc Soc Antiq Scot 69 (1934-5), 157-67



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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