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Note
Date 20 December 2013 - 31 August 2016
Event ID 1045541
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Note
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1045541
This tiny fortification, which backs onto the coastal cliffs at Arbigland, was excavated by General J Scott-Elliott over two seasons 1962-3 (Scott-Elliott 1963). Roughly semi-circular on plan, the interior measures about 20m from NE to SW along the cliff-edge by a maximum of 15m transversely (0.03ha). Although the rampart does not seem to have extended along the cliff-edge, this side may have been closed off by a palisade, traces of which were uncovered dismounting from the southern terminal of the rampart, where there was thought to have been an entrance. Elsewhere the rampart forms a bank up to 4m in thickness by 1.3m in height, and is fronted by a massive external ditch some 10m in breadth, which in excavation in the central sector proved to have a flat bottom at a depth of about 3m, though at its ends on the cliff-edge it displayed a V-shaped profile. The leading edge of the rampart was probably revetted with stonework, and a later wall had been built on its crest, perhaps when the interior was incorporated into the gardens of Arbigland House in the late 19th century. A scatter of post-holes and pits was found in the interior, and finds from a hearth close to the NE terminal of the rampart included a sherd of Samian Ware of 2nd century date.
Information from An Atlas of Hillforts of Great Britain and Ireland – 31 August 2016. Atlas of Hillforts SC0346
