Hanging Craig

Fort, Seaton Law (Haddington).

An important native fort with overall measurements of 630 ft by 250 ft, on the summit of Seaton Law, the eastern shoulder of the Garleton Hills, 200 yds NE of Barnes Castle (RCAHMS 1924, No. 71). The photographs show four ditches, the innermost of which encloses three sides of a rectangular area with rounded corners measuring 300 ft from E to W by 140 ft transversely; the fourth, or N, side of the enclosure is formed by the edge of a steep escarpment, 150 ft high, and it seems probable that any defences that may have existed on this side will have been destroyed long ago by erosion of the cliff face. The other three ditches run in series and form a triple defence, curvilinear on plan, which envelopes the inner enclosure on all sides except the N. A wide entrance through all four ditches can be seen on the E end of the fort (1).

(1) CPE Scot UK 257, 3085.

Information from RCAHMS (KAS) 1 June 1954.

This site is noted in the ‘List of monuments discovered during the survey of marginal land (1951-5)’ (RCAHMS 1957, xiv-xviii).

Information from RCAHMS (GFG), 24 October 2012.

This fort, which is known only from cropmarkings, is situated on the N margin of the broad spur that terminates in Seaton Law, and exploits the steep and craggy slope known as Hanging Craig dropping away to the Cogtail Burn on the N. As revealed by the cropmarks, the fort is D-shaped on plan, backing onto the lip of the slope above the burn, and measures internally about 150m from ENE to WSW along the chord by about 75m transversely (0.95ha); making some allowance for the presence of a rampart, the interior probably extends to about 0.84ha, and is occupied largely by a probable rectilinear settlement enclosure, though only S the side of the latter and the adjacent angles can be seen with any clarity. The defences of the fort comprise at least four ditches, though again none is clearly defined, varying in breadth from 3m or 4m down to the faintest of traces. The inner two seem to be concentric about 5m apart and are broken by at least one entrance on the ENE and possibly by a second on the WSW. The third ditch, which is also the broadest, is also roughly concentric, but appears to splay a little wider at either end, and these features may indicate that it was once a free-standing enclosure; if so, its interior was in the order of 1.3ha. An intermittent outer ditch lies on the SE quarter, with possibly two shadowy lines beyond it, while another faint line immediately within the third ditch on the SW is possibly a palisade trench. Probable entrances through the third ditch lie on the ENE, S and W; at the last only the S ditch terminal is visible, but the butt end and the inner lip have apparently been drawn out into an elongated point, probably to narrow the inner end of the causeway.

Information from An Atlas of Hillforts of Great Britain and Ireland – 18 May 2016. Atlas of Hillforts SC3875