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Publication Account

Date 1985

Event ID 1016250

Category Descriptive Accounts

Type Publication Account

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1016250

Through this fort occupies the greater part of a long, oval hillock, it is relatively low-lying and overlooked by a higher ridge from which missiles could easily have been launched. Vulnerability would not have mattered perhaps in its earlier periods of occupation; gradually, however, fortifications were extended providing a most elaborate system of stone and earth ramparts. Was it simply a case of a wealthy community wanting to impress? Or to present an illusion of strength to would-be attackers?

Two ramparts entirely encircle the site; to the north there are a further three lines of banking, spanning 55m. A series of five earthworks stretches across the west end, with a further series to the east, and these may have been intended specifically to protect the entrances at the north-west and east of the fort.

The enclosed area measures some 119m by 49m, within inner ramparts still standing to over 2m high. Inside, there are traces of the foundations of maybe 20 or 30 mainly circular stone buildings varying in size from 4.25m to 12m diameter but apparently ranged around the sides in roughly regular rows. Some overlie the ramparts, thus suggesting a period of occupation from the 2nd century AD or later.

Information from 'Exploring Scotland's Heritage: Lothian and Borders', (1985).

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