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The Whaum
Building (18th Century)(Possible), Enclosure(S) (Period Unknown), Fort (Prehistoric), House Platform(S) (Prehistoric), Settlement (Prehistoric)
Site Name The Whaum
Classification Building (18th Century)(Possible), Enclosure(S) (Period Unknown), Fort (Prehistoric), House Platform(S) (Prehistoric), Settlement (Prehistoric)
Alternative Name(s) Bellanrig
Canmore ID 51279
Site Number NT23NW 10
NGR NT 2354 3794
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/51279
- Council Scottish Borders, The
- Parish Peebles
- Former Region Borders
- Former District Tweeddale
- Former County Peebles-shire
NT23NW 10 2354 3794.
(NT 2354 3794) Settlement (NR)
OS 6" map (1965)
The remains of a fort, a settlement and four enclosures are situated on and around a low rocky knoll at the head of The Whaum, a steep side-valley which bites deeply into the S flank of Cademuir Hill. The earliest structure on the site is the fort (I), the defences of which are partly overlain by the settlement (II) and also by two of the enclosures (III and IV). The chronological relationship between the settlement and the enclosures cannot be determined, since their remains are nowhere in contact.
The fort (I) measures 165' in length from ENE to WSW by 100'. The principal defences consist of a wall (A) measuring 13' in thickness, which runs round the edge of the natural summit-area of the knoll, and an outer wall or rampart (B), now reduced for the most part to a mere scarp, which encircles the flanks of the knoll at a distance of about 40' outside wall A. What may have been a medial wall or rampart (C) is visible on the W. The whole of the E portion of B has been destroyed by later structures. The entrance to the fort is on the E, and in the interior there are two scarps which appear to have been formed by quarrying, and a curved bank which is clearly intrusive.
The settlement (II) is irregular on plan and is enclosed by a wall about 6' in thickness. The E part of the interior has been cut off from the rest by a similar wall which overlies the main wall at either end. The E portion thus isolated has an entrance near its E apex and contains a house-platform (1) measuring 30' across, together with the remains of another (2), somewhat smaller, which is bordered on the E by a low bank. The rest of the settlement, which has an entrance on the NNE and another on the S. contains two house-platforms (3, 4) measuring 35' and 28' across respectively.
One of the enclosures (III) measures 100' by 60' within a bank 12' in thickness and 2' in maximum height; on the SW the bank overrides the fort wall for a short distance. The entrance was probably on the SE, where a small quarry of comparatively recent date lies athwart the narrow passage between enclosure III and the settlement. The interior of enclosure III is featureless except for an irregular scarp which may represent a last vestige of wall B.
The second enclosure (IV) measures 70' by 60' within a low stony bank which abuts on to wall A. As no traces of ramparts B and C are visible in the interior of enclosure IV, it is probable that they were demolished to provide material for the bank. A gap in the NW side of the bank, flanked on either side by an earthfast boulder, is probably an original entrance, while another entrance opposite this is probably represented by a breach in wall A.
The third enclosure (V) resembles enclosure IV on plan; it measures 80' in either direction within a wall which has disappeared on the NW, where it ran along the crest of a natural scarp. A few stones of an outer revetment are visible in the SW side, near the entrance. The interior is featureless.
Enclosure VI is bounded by a wall on all sides except the NW, where it ran along the crest of the natural scarp already mentioned. Several outer facing-stones are visible in the ruins of this wall, which continues beyond the entrance, on the NE, for a distance of 20' before abutting against the settlement wall. The interior of enclosure VI contains a long scarp, which is probably of natural origin, and the foundations of a rectangular house, measuring internally 30' by 12' within a wall 4'6" thick, which occupies the SW corner. This building may be the one indicated as "Wham" on Armstrong's map of 1775. (Information from A McLaren notebook 1961-2, 92)
RCAHMS 1967, visited 1962
Although the remains of this complex have been disturbed by quarrying, it is possible to interpret them differently to the RCAHMS.
The fort (I) appears to have consisted of two ramparts, A, which is complete, and C, which survives on the S but which is barely traceable on the N. What may be part of C is clearly preserved in the W wall of the settlement where it bulges and makes an unnecessary kink.
The settlement (II) is generally as described, although only one house site (3) can be recognised with any certainty.
Enclosure III which overlies the fort is either contemporary with II or pre-dates it since the settlement makes a bend to follow a course parallel to the enclosure leaving a trackway between the two. Within the enclosure at its NW end, is a raised area, possibly partly natural, which may have contained a house. There is an entrance in the NE.
The remainder of the enclosures are clearly much later and probably formed part of a farm complex.
Surveyed at 1:2500.
Visited by OS (JP) 4 August 1971
Photographed by the RCAHM in 1980.
Note (19 October 2015 - 20 October 2016)
A complex sequence of fortifications and settlements is situated on a rocky knoll in the saddle in the Cademuir ridge above the head of the valley known as The Whaum. The defences comprise two ramparts, the inner of which is almost 4m in thickness and extends round the margin of the summit to enclose an oval area measuring 50m from ENE to WSW by 30m transversely (0.13ha). The outer follows the lip of a terrace a little further down the slope to form an eccentric enclosure measuring about 67m from ENE to WSW by 54m transversely; RCAHMS investigators in 1962 noted a possible third rampart on the W, but they may have misinterpreted the pattern of robbing here. For the most part the outer rampart has been reduced to an intermittent scarp, while robbing of the inner has revealed inner and outer facing stones on the ENE and WSW. Those on the ENE occur at the entrance, which is approached by a trackway leading between a featureless enclosure on the N and a walled settlement containing at least four house-platforms on the S. The enclosure clearly overlies the inner rampart N of the entrance, while the settlement has probably incorporated the outer rampart into its wall on the E. Another enclosure overlies the defences on the NNW, but this may be associated with rectangular footings in the gully on the N. Two rectangular enclosures associated with the footings of a building between the fort and the stone dyke at the top of the improved fields on the SE are probably the remains of the late 18th century farmstead named 'Wham' on Mostyn Armstrong's Map of Peeblesshire (1875).
Information from An Atlas of Hillforts of Great Britain and Ireland – 20 October 2016. Atlas of Hillforts SC3652
Sbc Note
Visibility: This is an upstanding earthwork or monument.
Information from Scottish Borders Council
