Camp Burn

NT31SE 9 3923 1047.

(Centred: NT 39231047) Fort (NR).

OS 6" map (1923)

Earthwork, Camp Burn. On a flat shelf on the left bank of the Camp Burn, 165 yds from its junction with the Borthwick Water and at a height of 700 ft. OD, there are the remains of a rectangular earthwork, formerly known as Africa, which has been heavily damaged by the later occupation of the site. The earthwork defences, consisting of a massive rampart of dump construction (A) and a wide external ditch, have been entireley obliterated on the NW. side, facing the Borthwick Water, but the N. angle of the rampart appears to underlie the foundations of a later building (B). If this is the case, the earthwork will have been roughly square, as previous observers have maintained (OSA 1794; R O Forsyth 1805-8), and will have enclosed an area of almost one acre. The rampart is well preserved on the SE. and SW. sides, where it measures from 22 ft. to 30 ft. in thickness at the base, up to 8 ft. in height internally, and up to 6 ft. externally; on the NE. side it has been completely effaced, but its line is preserved by the scarp of the ditch. The latter is most distinct on the SE. side, where it averages 32 ft. in width and measures up to 4 ft. 6 in. in depth below the lip of the counterscarp.

The mound that borders the Camp Burn on the NE. side of the earthwork, and which has been shown on the O.S. map as an outer rampart, is simply a natural feature emphasised by the cutting of the ditch. It is broken through in two places to give access to the burn. Although the O.S. map describes the site as a "fort", the size and rectilinear shape of the earthwork, the nature of its defences, and its situation on flat ground near the valley bottom suggest that it is a fortified homestead probably of early mediaeval date.

With the exception of two scoops (G and H) which may be either primary or secndary, all the remaining structures and enclosures on the site are later than the earthwork, although they are not necessarily contemporary with one another. The structures comprise five rectangular buildings (B to F), all reduced to foundation level, three of which (D, E, and F) are situated on the right bank of the burn and are probably associated with the small enclosure J. Attached to building B is a garth which occupies the N. quarter of the original earthwork, while a curved bank (N) may be the remains of an enclosure-wall contemporary with building B. There is no evidence to show the relationship of these buildings to either of the two enclosures K and L, although both are patently later than the earthwork. The latest work on the site, which slights the enclosure-wall N, is an L-shaped plantation-bank presumably of 19th- century date.

RCAHMS 1956, visited 1948

The remains of this homestead and later buildings and enclosures are as described above, with minor variations in shape and depiction of certain of the features from those illustrated on the plan. The remains of building 'C' on plan has been mutilated by recent excavations.

Resurveyed at 1/2500.

Visited by OS (WDJ) 13 July 1962

No change to Earthwork classification

Visited by RCAHMS (SH) April 1985