Borthwick, The Chesters
Settlement (Prehistoric)
Site Name Borthwick, The Chesters
Classification Settlement (Prehistoric)
Canmore ID 53538
Site Number NT36SE 10
NGR NT 3622 6020
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/53538
- Council Midlothian
- Parish Borthwick
- Former Region Lothian
- Former District Midlothian
- Former County Midlothian
NT36SE 10 3622 6020.
(NT 3622 6020) Earthwork (NR) (site of)
OS 6" map (1966)
Chalmers notes an oval 'encampment', about half an acre in size, in the field called "The Chesters". In its middle was an immense round whinstone. Some traces still remained in 1853, though it had been almost ploughed out by then.
G Chalmers 1810; Name Book 1853
Air photographs (CPE/Scot/UK310: 5015-6) reveal about two-thirds of the earthwork, now levelled by cultivation. It was oval on plan, straddling the crest of a ridge, and was defended by a single rampart and an external ditch. The overall measurements are approximately 380' NW-SE by 270' and it has a interrupted SW side. On the W side, about 30 yds from the NW apex, there is an entrance from 10' to 15' in width, on either side of which the ditch terminals are in-turned for a short distance.
RCAHMS MSS
This earthwork has been ploughed out and there is nothing to be seen on the ground.
Visited by OS (BS) 24 October 1975
Though previously classified as an earthwork recent aerial photography (RCAHMSAP 1995) suggest that this is now visible only as a cropmark and can be interpreted as a settlement.
Information from RCHAMS (KJ) 13 July 1999.
Aerial Photographic Interpretation (10 June 1954)
This site was included within the RCAHMS Marginal Land Survey (1950-1962), an unpublished rescue project. Site descriptions, organised by county, are available to view online - see the searchable PDF in 'Digital Items'. These vary from short notes, to lengthy and full descriptions. Contemporary plane-table surveys and inked drawings, where available, can be viewed online in most cases - see 'Digital Images'. The original typecripts, notebooks and drawings can also be viewed in the RCAHMS search room.
Information from RCAHMS (GFG) 19 July 2013.
Note (1988)
The Chesters NT 3622 6020 NT36SE 10
Cropmarks on a vertical air photograph show that this enclosure is oval, measuring at least 100m from NW to SE by 80m transversely within a ditch with an internal bank, the latter revealed by a broad parchmark, and there is also an entrance on the W.
RCAHMS 1988
(Chalmers 1810, ii, 567; Name Book, Edinburgh, No. 37, p. 23; RCAHMS Survey of Marginal Lands)
