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Publication Account
Date 1985
Event ID 1016172
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Publication Account
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1016172
In 1726 Alexander Gordon wrote that these terraces extended "for a whole mile, not unlike a large amphitheatre"; and one cannot but wonder whether the fragments at Romanno Bridge (NT 162482-163483) and at Whiteside Hill (NT 163457) were not originally part of the same system.
The present group of west-facing terraces is one of the best-known in Scotland. Fourteen are still well preserved, saved from later cultivation by the steepness of the slope. They lie between 222 m and 268 m, the longest now measuring 140 m. Generally the terraces are narrow (0.9 m-3 m) and the risers steep (0.6 m-6.7 ill high). But though they appear as steps, they rise towards the centre, falling away towards each end. The sandy subsoil is similar to that on the adjacent hillside; excavation showed it to be covered, however, with a loam built up through intensive cultivation.
Though unproven, the suggestion has been made that the terraces originated with the canons of Holyrood who, in the mid 12th century, were granted a carucate of land (roughly the land worked by a team of 8 oxen during a year) together with pasturage for 1000 sheep at 'Rothmaneic'-Rath Manach, the monks' rath or farm. Certainly they are similar to the terraces on the slopes of Arthur's Seat near to the Abbey in Edinburgh. Perhaps the Romanno name and terraces relate, however, to an earlier religious settlement of the Celtic church? The terraces themselves are notoriously difficult to date, and in general terms could be anything from 300-1300 or more years old.
Nearby is the old Romanno Bridge (NT 159479) of 1774, and the former toll-house (NT 160480) built either in 1830 when the turnpike was constructed, or shortly after. In 1832, over half the revenue came from cattle droves.
Information from 'Exploring Scotland's Heritage: Lothian and Borders', (1985).
