Mabonlaw
Fort (Period Unassigned)
Site Name Mabonlaw
Classification Fort (Period Unassigned)
Canmore ID 54125
Site Number NT41NE 9
NGR NT 4572 1527
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/54125
- Council Scottish Borders, The
- Parish Roberton
- Former Region Borders
- Former District Roxburgh
- Former County Roxburghshire
NT41NE 9 4572 1527
(NT 4572 1527) Fort (NR)
OS 25" map (1967)
This fort lies on a rocky spur 300 yds SE of Mabonlaw farm and at a height of 800 ft OD. It is rectangular on plan, measures 180 ft from NE to SW by 80 ft transversely, and originally had a single rampart all round with external rock-cut ditches across the ridge at each end. At the NE end the ditch has been practically obliterated except where it cuts through an outcrop of rock, being there 25 ft in width. At the SW end, in which the entrance was situated, there is a berm 12 ft in width, outside which is a steep-sided, rock-cut ditch 6 ft 2 ins in depth. Beyond this ditch the ridge slopes away naturally for a distance of 25 ft, and is then scarped off so that the natural fall of the ground is put to defensive use. There are no internal features.
RCAHMS 1956, visited 1948.
RCAHMS confirmed.
Resurveyed at 1:2500.
Visited by OS (EGC), 17 February 1965.
Note (6 August 2015 - 18 May 2016)
This fort occupies a rocky hillock on the spur descending to the SE of Mabonlaw. Apparently rectangular on plan, partly reflecting the topography of the underlying hillock, it measures about 54m from NE to SW by 28m transversely within a rampart which can be traced most of the way round the margins of the hillock, only disappearing for a short sector on the SE. Traces of a rock-cut cut ditch cuts across the crest of the hillock immediately outside the rampart at the NE end, but on the SW they are separated by a berm some 3.5m wide, outside which the ditch is some 5m in breadth by 1.8m in depth. This unusual feature is particularly noticeable on the SE side of the entrance that pierces the middle of this end, but there must be some doubt as to whether the ditch, which has the appearance of a small quarry and is not matched on the other side of the entrance, is truly associated with the rampart. Indeed, the presence of an outer ditch on the SW, extending along the SE flank of the hillock as a terrace and returning across its spine beneath later rigs 20m further to the NE raises several questions about the sequence of fortification here and the character of the innermost enclosure, which is possibly a rectilinear settlement inserted into the interior of an earlier fort. The enclosure formed by the outer ditch, which has been heavily ploughed-down, is oval on plan and measures about 105m in length from NE to SW and may have enclosed as much as 0.35ha.
Information from An Atlas of Hillforts of Great Britain and Ireland – 18 May 2016. Atlas of Hillforts SC3267
Sbc Note
Visibility: This is an upstanding earthwork or monument.
Information from Scottish Borders Council
