Hammer Knowe
Fort (Prehistoric), House Platform(S) (Prehistoric), Settlement (Prehistoric)
Site Name Hammer Knowe
Classification Fort (Prehistoric), House Platform(S) (Prehistoric), Settlement (Prehistoric)
Canmore ID 49843
Site Number NT13NE 4
NGR NT 1528 3866
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/49843
- Council Scottish Borders, The
- Parish Stobo
- Former Region Borders
- Former District Tweeddale
- Former County Peebles-shire
NT13NE 4 1528 3866.
(NT 1528 3866) Fort and Settlement (NR)
OS 6" map, (1967).
On Hammer Knowe there are an unfinished fort and a settlement of later date. It is evident that work on the construction of the fort was abandoned soon after it was begun. An area 240' by 160' was first marked out by a narrow shallow trench (IA on RCAHMS 1967 plan, fig.101), and then the excavation of a ditch was begun at the N end along the line thus indicated, the spoil. being thrown inwards to form a heaped rampart (IB). The work was evidently done by separate gangs, one short stretch of rampart and ditch being detached from the rest.
The settlement, which lies entirely within the enclosure formed by the marker trench, measures 140' by 110', within a wall (II) now represented by a band of rubble up to 10' thick. The entrance, 10' wide, is in the SE, and the interior contains at least two house-platforms (1,2) the larger of which (1) measures 28' in diameter.
That the settlement is secondary is demonstrated by the fact that, round the S half, the marker trench is situated too close to wall II to allow room for the construction of rampart IB. The marker trench must therefore have been already dug and abandoned when the settlement wall was built. (See RCAHMS 1967 plan, fig.101).
RCAHMS 1967; Information from R W Feachem notebook 1961-2, 68.
The site is generally as described and planned by the RCAHMS, but the marker trench of the fort is barely discernable and not surveyable. There are indications of two more possible house platforms within the settlement, but, again, not surveyable.
Surveyed at 1:2500.
Visited by OS(JTT) 19 August 1964.
OS Field Surveyor (JTT) confirmed.
Revised at 1:2500.
Visited by OS(DWR) 7 August 1972.
Reference (1957)
This site is noted in the ‘List of monuments discovered during the survey of marginal land (1951-5)’ (RCAHMS 1957, xiv-xviii).
Information from RCAHMS (GFG), 24 October 2012.
Note (7 October 2015 - 18 May 2016)
This small earthwork, which comprises an arc of ditch and bank and what is described as a marker trench enclosing a stone-walled settlement, is supposed to be the remains of an unfinished fort on the Hammer Knowe, which is an intermediate summit on the spur descending from Mid Hill down to Hammer Rig. Oval on plan, the outer enclosure measures 67m from NW to SE by by 49m transversely, though the trench is barely discernible around the flanks and the arc of ditch and bank is of relatively slight proportions. The settlement occupying the SE end of the interior is oval and measures about 43m from NW to SE by 33m transversely within a wall reduced to a band of stones some 3m in thickness. Its entrance is on the SE, apparently opposite a gap in the marker trench, and at least two, and possibly four, circular platforms can be seen within the interior. Whereas most other marker trenches in southern Scotland are indistinguishable from palisade trenches, and should probably be interpreted as such, it is difficult to be certain of the character of this example, which appears as little more than a raggle in the heather. Nevertheless, while the position is typical of other forts, the 'completed' arc of ditch and bank on the NW is relatively slight, and it is perhaps special pleading to argue that this is the remains of an unfinished fort.
Information from An Atlas of Hillforts of Great Britain and Ireland – 18 May 2016. Atlas of Hillforts SC3570
Archaeological Evaluation (26 April 2021 - 12 May 2021)
NT 1468 3877 An assessment of the historic environment was undertaken in Spring 2021 as part of proposed forestry on parts of Stobo Estate. The assessment area covered 1093ha within which 153 sites related to the historic environment were recorded through desk-based research and field survey. These included evidence of both prehistoric and more recent settlement and farming practices, prehistoric funerary remains, historic estate activities and parts of an 18th- to early 20th-century designed landscape. Five designated sites were present within the assessment area. These comprised one Garden and Designed Landscape: Stobo Castle (GDL349; Canmore ID: 344397) and four Scheduled Monuments: the Pyked Stane cairn (SM2938; Canmore ID: 50106), Clashpock Rig homestead (SM3217; Canmore ID: 50090), Hammer Knowe fort (SM3094; Canmore ID: 49843) and Huskie Rig funerary remains (SM2778; Canmore ID: 49832).
Archive: NRHE (intended)
Funder: Pryor & Rickett Silviculture
David Sneddon – Clyde Archaeology
(Source: DES Volume 23)
Sbc Note
Visibility: This is an upstanding earthwork or monument.
Information from Scottish Borders Council
