Field Visit

Date 22 January 1991

Event ID 720523

Category Recording

Type Field Visit

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/720523

NT70NW 20 705 094

A rectilinear enclosure defined by a palisade trench is situated in an unusual position immediately W of the fort on the summit of Hophills Nob (NT70NW 15). The crest of the hill descends westwards in a series of stepped ridges separated by shallow gullies, which cut across the axis of the hill from north to south. The perimeter of the enclosure takes in the two upper ridges and the intervening gully, enclosing an area measuring 80m from E to W by about 48m transversely, although little trace of the palisade trench is now visible along the crest of the steep slope that forms the S side. The entrance is probably in the N side near the NW angle. On the upper ridge, a single round-house is defined by a narrow ring-groove lying immediately within the NE angle, while a row of similar round-houses is visible on the lower ridge. Not all these houses are contemporary with the enclosure, whose perimieter cuts through the centre of one at the NW angle. This house, therefore, belongs to an earlier unenclosed settlement, as does the large round-house comprising a central platform with a concentric ring-ditch 1.8m broad and 0.3m deep, which it cuts on the SE; three other unenclosed round-houses lie to the WNW. With the exception of the large round-house with the central platform, which measures 13.5m in overall diameter, the rest of the buildings comprise ring-grooves from 8m to 10.5m in diameter, in some cases with traces of a shallow hollow at its centre.

Visited by RCAHMS (ARW and SPH) 22 January 1991