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South Hill Head
Palisaded Enclosure(S) (Prehistoric), Ring Ditch House (Prehistoric)
Site Name South Hill Head
Classification Palisaded Enclosure(S) (Prehistoric), Ring Ditch House (Prehistoric)
Canmore ID 51602
Site Number NT24SW 8
NGR NT 2204 4161
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/51602
- Council Scottish Borders, The
- Parish Peebles
- Former Region Borders
- Former District Tweeddale
- Former County Peebles-shire
NT24SW 8 2204 4161.
(NT 2204 4161) Homestead (NR)
OS 6" map (1965)
In rough pasture on the S side of the summit of South Hill Head, there is a homestead consisting of a single ring ditch house contained within two palisaded enclosures. The house measures 44' in diameter over a shallow ditch, about 5' wide, which is bordered on the N, W and S by a very low bank. Three stones, set in line on edge, which protrude from the outer lip of the ditch on the NE may represent part of the packing of the foundation trench in which the timbers of the outer wall of the house were set.
The inner enclosure is oval on plan, measuring 100' by 80' within a palisade trench (I) which appears on the surface as a shallow groove about 3' wide, with a very low external bank on the NW. There are two entrances, on the N and NE respectively. The outer enclosure, also oval on plan, measures 155' by 120' within a palisade trench (II) similar in appearance to I. The single entrance on the NE which has been enlarged to a width of 19' by former cultivation, coincides with the NE entrance in I which measures 8' in width. Originally the terminals of the palisades probably united in pairs at gateposts set one on either side of the gap, which could then be closed by a single gate. The other entrance in I, situated 34' S of the main entrance, appears to have provided the only access to the space between I and II, the gaps on the SW and W of II being modern.
A dump of stones cleared from adjacent areas of cultivation lies between the two palisades on the N.
(Information from R W Feachem notebook 1958 (MS 36/182, p68))
RCAHMS 1967, visited 1958
A good example of a palisaded homestead. The ring-ditch house remains in very good condition.
Visited by OS (JLD) 31 July 1961 and (BS) 23 September 1974
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.
Sbc Note
Visibility: This is an upstanding earthwork or monument.
Information from Scottish Borders Council
