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Huntshaw
Enclosure(S) (Period Unassigned), Rig And Furrow (Medieval) - (Post Medieval), Settlement (Period Unassigned)
Site Name Huntshaw
Classification Enclosure(S) (Period Unassigned), Rig And Furrow (Medieval) - (Post Medieval), Settlement (Period Unassigned)
Canmore ID 55490
Site Number NT53NE 1
NGR NT 5745 3995
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/55490
- Council Scottish Borders, The
- Parish Earlston
- Former Region Borders
- Former District Ettrick And Lauderdale
- Former County Berwickshire
NT53NE 1 5745 3995.
(NT 5745 3995) A fort is situated on the W end of a low ridge in the NE corner of the Well Field, some 300 yds NE of Huntshaw farm steading and about 680 ft O D. An oval, measuring 270 ft by 180 ft can be traced. The remains, although showing a tranch several feet in depth about 1871, are now very faint; though the trench is almost levelled, the outline is noticeable when the land is under a corn crop.
J H Craw 1921
The identification of Well Field was confirmed by its owner (Mrs Oliver, Huntshaw). No traces of the fort can be seen.
Visited by OS (CJP) 3 October 1956
Enclosed Settlement: Recent air photography shows that this site consists of an oval enclosure some 250 ft in length defined by a narrow crop-mark which might well be a palisade trench; outside this at some 20 ft distance is a ditch, and further out again, after a considerable interval, a narrower ditch. The outer space is subdivided by cross-ditches to form a series of compounds perhaps serving for different herds of stock.
J K St Joseph 1967
This site has been photographed from the air by Mr J Forsyth, Department of Educational Resources, Borders Regional Council, 25 September 1979.
A glass bangle (Type 3A), of probable 1st/2nd century AD date, from this site is in the Hunterian Museum, Glasgow.
R B K Stevenson 1956
Photographed by the RCAHMS, 1979, 1980, 1983, 1984, 1993 and 1994.
Aerial Photographic Transcription (25 September 1999 - 27 September 1999)
An aerial transcription was produced from oblique aerial photographs. Information from Historic Environment Scotland (BM) 31 March 2017.
Note (13 January 2016 - 18 October 2016)
This fort, rather than occupying the summit of Huntshaw Hill, is situated on the sloping SE flank of the hill to the NE of the farm, and is remarkable for the complex array of enclosures revealed by cropmarks, comprising a double-ditched inner enclosure, an outer enclosure, two phases of a subsidiary enclosure lying between the inner and outer enclosures on the SW, and a small rectangular enclosure attached externally to the outer on the NNW; surrounding the whole is a system of linear boundaries. The sequence of any of these elements is difficult to determine without excavation, but the rectangular enclosure on the NNW appears likely to have been butted onto the outer enclosure, while the two successive enclosures on the SW appear to have both adopted elements of the inner and outer circuits, and indeed, at one point obliterated all trace of the outer. The inner enclosure is an irregular circle on plan and encloses an area measuring some 85m across, but its inner ditch is no more than 3m in maximum breadth, contrasting strongly with the ditch between 4m and 6m in breadth set some 10m outside it. Thus, despite their strictly concentric arrangement, with two corresponding entrances on the S and E respectively, these two ditches may represent successive phases of enclosure; allowing for the presence of ramparts on the inner lip of each ditch, they would have enclosed 0.5ha and 1ha respectively. Likewise the concentric arrangement of the outer enclosure, which forms a regular oval on plan, measuring internally about 210m from ENE to WSW by 170m transversely, is no guarantee that it is a subsidiary enclosure of the inner defences; with a ditch up to 5m in breadth and an internal rampart of commensurate size it is likely to have been a free-standing enclosure of some 2.5ha. A possible entrance into the outer enclosure can be seen on the S, though it is not aligned with the one through this side of the inner enclosure, but the cropmarks around the rest of the circuit are not sufficiently clear to identify any others. other entrances into the inner enclosure may also have been obscured by a superimposed field boundary on the N and what appears to be a natural drainage gully traversing the enclosures on the W.
The perimeters of both inner and outer lines on the SW are also obscured by the two successive enclosures, which give the impression that they have been imposed on the defences of the fort. The inner appears to adopt the line of the outer fort circuit on its SW and is shaped like a teardrop on plan, tapering to a point on the SE; traces of an internal bank form a continuous feature around its perimeter, enclosing an area measuring about 40m from NW to SE by a maximum of 25m transversely. On its SE side are traces of another ditch forming what is probably a polygonal enclosure, apparently springing tangentially from the broader end of the 'teardrop'. This utilises the outer ditch of the inner circuit to make its N side, crossing over the line of the outer enclosure on its SE side before turning sharply back at right angles to return on the SW; at least one entrance causeway can be seen on the SE near the southern corner. While it is impossible to be certain without excavation, these are likely to be the remains of late Iron Age settlements occupying elements of an earlier fort.
Information from An Atlas of Hillforts of Great Britain and Ireland – 18 October 2016. Atlas of Hillforts SC3949
