Archaeology Notes

Event ID 731515

Category Descriptive Accounts

Type Archaeology Notes

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/731515

NY29NE 14 25040 95400

Extends onto map sheet NY29NW 6.

(NY 2504 9540) Fort (NR)

OS 6" map (1965)

Some 200 yds SE of the fort NY29NW 6, there is another fort. It is formed on an eminence at an elevation of 800 ft above sea level overlooking the valley of the White Esk about 1/4 mile W of the farm of Holm Mill. Its main axis lies NE and SW. Towards the N is a hollow cutting it off from the higher slope of the hill beyond; and, on the S, with an abrupt and in places precipitous rocky face, the ground declines rapidly to the base of the hill. On plan, the fort is semi-oval with the edge of the steep southern escarpment foring the chord. So strongly is it protected by nature on the S that artificial earthwork has been dispensed with; but around the periphery towards the lower ground, below a bold scarp from the summit level, there runs a double trench with an intervening rampart 22 ft (6.7m) broad at base. The trenches from crest to crest measure, the inner 33 ft (10.1m) and the outer 16 ft (4.9m), while the outer has a depth of 12 ft (3.7m) below the crest of the scarp and 3 ft 6 ins (1m) below that of the counterscarp, and the latter similar measurements of 8ft (2.4m) and 3 ft 6 ins (1.1m) respectively. The rampart has been of earth and stone, and there has been considerable rock cutting in the formation of the trenches. The entrance has been on the summit level at the NE angle, some 8 to 9 ft (2.4 to 2.7m) wide, passing between the end of the defences and the steep escarpment to the E, the road towards it being traceable for some distance up the hillside. There is no well visible in the area of the interior, but in the inner trench there is a considerable clump of rushes at one point, which may indicate the presence of water.

RCAHMS 1920, visited July 1912.

When visited in 1973, this fort was generally in a similar condition to that described above. However, the interior was overgrown with long grass, and no huts could be seen.

Revised at 1:2500.

Visited by OS (WDJ) 4 September 1962 and (IA) 16 October 1973.

Scheduled as Bessie's Hill, settlement.

Information from Historic Scotland, scheduling document dated 14 January 2002.