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Whiteside Rig
Enclosure (Prehistoric), Fort (Prehistoric)
Site Name Whiteside Rig
Classification Enclosure (Prehistoric), Fort (Prehistoric)
Alternative Name(s) Manyleith Rig
Canmore ID 49754
Site Number NT12NW 13
NGR NT 1115 2504
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/49754
- Council Scottish Borders, The
- Parish Tweedsmuir
- Former Region Borders
- Former District Tweeddale
- Former County Peebles-shire
NT12NW 13 1115 2504.
See also NT12SW 13.
(NT 1115 2504) Fort (NR)
OS 6" map (1966)
On Whiteside Rig, are the remains of a fort and of a later enclosure. The site is virtually impregnable on three sides owing to the steep fall of the ground to the River Tweed and to the Moat and Glenriska Burns, but it is easily accessible from the narrow col that links it to Manyleith Head on the SE.
The fort is the second largest in the county, measuring 1160ft. by 330ft. within a stone wall (IA) which is accompanied, where it crosses the col, by a second wall (IB). Except round the NW end, where it has been robbed to build the wall of the later enclosure, the main wall (IA) now appears as a band of stones about 10ft. thick which borders the summit area of the spur. Two stretches of the outer face are visible on the SW, and three more on the SE where the wall crosses the col. The outer wall (IB) which lies 40ft. outside IA, has been severely robbed for the construction of a sheepfold which partly overlies it, and it is now represented only by several stretches of the outer face. The main entrance to the fort is on the SE, but a gap in the SW side of wall IA may represent a second entrance. The interior measures 6 1/2 acres in extent; it is covered with peat and heather and exhibits no surface traces of dwellings.
The enclosure, which overlies the NW end of the fort, measures 130ft. by 110ft. within a stone wall (II) now represented by a band of debris spread to a thickness of 18ft. in places. Stretches of the outer face are visible on the SE and NW. The entrance cannot be definitely identified, but was probably on the S. The interior is featureless. (Information from R W Feachem notebook 1955-7, i, 64)
RCAHMS 1967, visited 1956; D Christison 1887
Generally as described, the position and construction of the later enclosure, indicate that it too is a fort.
Resurveyed at 1/2500.
Visited by OS (RL) 16 August 1963 and (DWR) 20 September 1972.
Note (7 October 2015 - 20 October 2016)
This fort is situated on the crest of Whiteside Rig, a high ridge from which the ground falls away steeply for a vertical height of 100m to the banks of the Tweed on the NW and into the side valleys along the NE and SW flanks. The only easy line of approach is off the higher ground to the SE and across a shallow saddle. The defences of the fort comprise a single wall, which extends along the lip of the slope from above the saddle on the SE to the very tip of the ridge on the NW to enclose an oval area measuring about 350m from NW to SE by 100m transversely (2.7ha). Several runs of outer face are visible along its line, and also forming the leading edge of what was probably an outer wall crossing the spine of the ridge at the saddle on the SE, though this latter has been otherwise robbed away to provide stone for a sheepfold. There is an entrance in the SE end, and a second gap in the SW flank, while any entrance at the NW end is probably lost, robbed to build a stone-walled enclosure that overlies this end of the fort. Roughly oval on plan, and measuring internally 40m from NW to SE by 33m transversely, this enclosure has also been heavily robbed, though a long run of outer facing stones can be seen along the leading edge of the surviving band of rubble on the SE. The interior of the fort is featureless.
Information from An Atlas of Hillforts of Great Britain and Ireland – 20 October 2016. Atlas of Hillforts SC3567
Sbc Note
Visibility: This is an upstanding earthwork or monument.
Information from Scottish Borders Council
