South Minto Hill
Fort (Period Unassigned), Roundhouse(S) (Prehistoric)(Possible)
Site Name South Minto Hill
Classification Fort (Period Unassigned), Roundhouse(S) (Prehistoric)(Possible)
Alternative Name(s) Minto Hills
Canmore ID 55470
Site Number NT52SE 6
NGR NT 5592 2064
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/55470
- Council Scottish Borders, The
- Parish Minto
- Former Region Borders
- Former District Roxburgh
- Former County Roxburghshire
NT52SE 6 5592 2064.
(NT 5592 2064) Fort (NR) (site of)
OS 6" map (1970)
Fort, South Minto Hill: Aerial photographs (106G/Scot/UK 121:3292-3) reveal the last vestiges of an oval fort, measuring about 400ft from E to W by 250ft transversely within a single rampart, on the summit of the southernmost of the Minto Hills (900ft OD). The rampart is barely perceptible on the ground, but some slight remains of an internal quarry-trench suggest that it was of dump-construction. No entrances or internal structures can be seen.
RCAHMS 1956, visited 1948
Centred NT 5592 2064. The remains of this probable fort appear to conform to the description above. They are so slight as to be unsurveyable. Only the vaguest traces of a rampart can be seen, mainly on the N side.
Visited by OS (WDJ) 11 October 1965
Additional aerial photographs of this fort were taken by the RCAHMS in 1980.
The remains of this fort occupy the southerly of the two summits of Minto Hill and were under pasture on the date of visit. Roughly oval on plan, with an entrance on the W, the fort measures about 121m from E to W by 75m transversely within a bank (up to 5m thick and 0.3m high) which is best preserved on the N arc but elsewhere has been reduced to a low scarp. There is no evidence for an external ditch and the bank has probably been constructed of material gathered from a series of internal quarry-scoops, traces of which are particularly evident immediately behind the bank on the E and SE. There are no traces of any internal features but immediately outside the entrance there are several shallow platforms which may mark the sites of timber round-houses.
Visited by RCAHMS (JRS/RM) 29 September 1993.
Note (19 August 2015 - 18 May 2016)
The remains of a relatively slight hilltop enclosure can be seen enclosing the summit of the southern of the Minto Hills, a steep-side hill that forms a prominent landmark. Oval on plan, it measures about 120m from ENE to WSW by 70m transversely (0.65ha) within a low bank some 5m in thickness by 0.3m in height where it is best preserved on the N, though for much of the circuit it is little more than a low scarp; material for the bank has been won from shallow internal quarries immediately to its rear. The interior is featureless and though RCAHMS investigators who visited in 1993 mention possible traces of several shallow platforms outside the entrance, they did not record its position in the circuit. The character of the enclosure is uncertain, and while there is no evidence of a hilltop plantation here on early topographic maps, the bank is too slight to be the remains of a rampart as such; nevertheless, it is possible that it hides the remains of a substantial timber-built perimeter.
Information from An Atlas of Hillforts of Great Britain and Ireland – 18 May 2016. Atlas of Hillforts SC3313
Sbc Note
Visibility: This is an upstanding earthwork or monument.
Information from Scottish Borders Council
