Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland

SC4099 East Reston Mill, Berwickshire (East Reston)

LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade

LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade

Satellite Imagery

Satellite Imagery

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HER:  Scottish Borders 59901 (None)

NMR:  NT 86 SE 6 (59901)

SM:  12491

NGR:  NT 8992 6154

X:  389920  Y:  661546  (OSGB36)

Summary

This fort or fortified settlement is situated on the summit of a low rounded hill in the angle of the track leading from East Reston down to East Reston Mill. Oval on plan, it measures about 70m from ESE to WNW by 50m transversely (0.27ha) within two roughly concentric ditches set between 7m and 10m apart. The ditches range from 3m to 5m in breadth and a large macula at the ESE end of the interior, almost certainly representing the eastern side of the shallow depression in the surface of the field observed by OS surveyors in 1966, has preserved the scar of a rampart some 4m in thickness on the ENE; allowing for its presence around the rest of the circuit, the interior enclosed about 0.2ha. In addition to the evidence of scooping at the ESE end of the interior, there are several other irregular maculae within the interior, though whether they indicate the stances of structures or simply other fragments of a scooped yard cannot be determined without excavation. The entrance is not visible but probably lies in the southern sector where it is hidden by the edge of the field and the adjacent track. There is no stratigraphic evidence to demonstrate whether the two ditches are elements of a single scheme, but if the were successive and the outer was once free-standing, it would have enclosed about 0.45ha within its rampart.

Status

Citizen Science:  ✗

Reliability of Data:  Confirmed

Reliability of Interpretation:  Confirmed

Location

X:  -240734  Y:  7528029  (EPSG: 3857)

Longitude:  -2.1625473165975473  Latitude:  55.847056648230804  (EPSG:4326)

Country:  Scotland

Current County or Unitary Authority:  Scottish Borders

Historic County:  Berwickshire

Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland:  Coldingham

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:  78.0m

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:   Ploughed flat

Evidence:No related records

Investigation History

Photographed by CUCAP in 1948, 1959, 1968, 1970, 1971, 1975 and 1979, by John Dewar in 1976 (held by RCAHMS), by Dennis Harding in 1979, and by RCAHMS Aerial Survey Programme in 1976, 1977, 1979, 1984, 1986, 1989, 1990, 1993, 1998, 1999 and 2015

Investigations:
1st Identified Written Reference (1948):   First photographed by CUCAP
1st Identified Map Depiction (1966):   Site shown on 1:10,000 map (1973)
Other (1979):   Visited by RCAHMS
Other (2009):   Scheduled

Interior Features

Area of scooping and several other irregular maculae

Water Source

None

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

Surface

None

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

Area of scooping and several other irregular maculae

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:  
0:   None

Number of Possible Original Entrances:  
2:   Not known but probably in the southern sector

Guard Chambers:  ✗

Chevaux de Frise:  ✗

Entrances:No related records

Enclosing Works

Twin ditches, presumably with upcast ramparts.

Enclosed Area:
Area 1:   0.2ha.
Total:   0.2ha.

Total Footprint Area:  Noneha.

Ramparts

None

Multi-period Enclosure System:
✗   No evidence to suggest that the two ditches are not elements of a single scheme, but if the outer was once free-standing, it would have enclosed about 0.45ha within its rampart

Ramparts Form a Continuous Circuit:
✓   None

Number of Ramparts:  
NE Quadrant:   2
SE Quadrant:   2
SW Quadrant:   1
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

No related records



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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