Fans
Fort (Prehistoric)
Site Name Fans
Classification Fort (Prehistoric)
Canmore ID 57378
Site Number NT64SW 3
NGR NT 6227 4178
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/57378
- Council Scottish Borders, The
- Parish Earlston
- Former Region Borders
- Former District Ettrick And Lauderdale
- Former County Berwickshire
The remains of an earthwork occupy a low knoll in low-lying ground about 1 km north of Fans farmsteading. Roughly circular in shape, the earthwork measures approximately 50m by 58m in extent.
Although the western half of the site has been levelled, cropmarks show three roughly concentric rings. These mark the line of the ditches that enclosed the site. Until recently, upstanding earthworks on the eastern half of the site mirrored these cropmarks. No traces of structures can be seen within the interior.
This site probably represents the remains of a defended settlement or fort dating to the 1st millennium BC.
Text prepared by RCAHMS as part of the Accessing Scotland's Past project
NT64SW 3 6227 4178.
(NT 6227 4178) The remains of a circular fort are situated some 1200 yds. NNE of the farmstead of Fans, on a knoll at the south side of Gordon Moss. It has been surrounded by two ramparts with an intervening trench. The western semi-circle has almost been obliterated.
RCAHMS 1915, visited 1911.
This earthwork, possibly a fort, has been circular on plan, the ramparts being 5.0m broad and 9.0m apart.
It is defaced on the west side, but would seem to have measured 50 x 58m.
Visited by OS(JD) 20 May 1955.
The eastern half of this fort remains best preserved on the SE segment. The inner rampart exists mainly as a scarp and the outer fades into a mere course on the north side.
Surveyed at 1:2500.
Visited by OS(WDJ) 14 November 1963.
This alleged fort occupies a low rise in low-lying ground and is generally as previously described. Its W half has been levelled by the plough and since the last report the E half has been quarried by the farmer, who was unaware of the nature of the site.
Visited by RCAHMS (JRS/RJCM) 30 September 1993.
Field Visit (May 1911)
132. Fort, Fans.
The remains of a circular fort (fig. 72 [DP 225505]) are situated some 1200 yards north-north-east of the farm-steading of Fans, on a knoll at the south side of Gordon Moss, and at an elevation of some 500 feet over sea-level. It has been surrounded by two ramparts with an intervening trench, the soil from the latter having been chiefly piled on the outer and lower rampart. The interior diameter has been some 135 feet and the breadth across the defences some 53 feet. The western semi-circle has been almost obliterated.
RCAHMS 1915, visited May 1911.
OS Map: Ber., xxvi. NE. (unnoted).
Aerial Photographic Transcription (5 December 1990 - 10 April 1991)
An aerial transcription was produced from oblique aerial photographs. Information from Historic Environment Scotland (BM) 31 March 2017.
Note (25 January 2016 - 18 May 2016)
The site of a small fortified settlement lies on a low rise on the edge of the arable ground NNE of Fans. Half the perimeter had already been ploughed flat by the time James Hewat Craw first recorded it, but cropmarks and parchmarks photographed from the air in 1989 have revealed no fewer than three ditches forming a concentric belt 17m deep. At 4m in breadth, the innermost is the broadest, and there is a single entrance on the N. The twin banks depicted by Craw evidently formed the inner and middle ramparts accompanying these ditches, enclosing a slightly oval area measuring about 50m from N to S by 35m transversely (0.14ha). The interior is featureless.
Information from An Atlas of Hillforts of Great Britain and Ireland – 18 May 2016. Atlas of Hillforts SC4033
Sbc Note
Visibility: This is an upstanding earthwork or monument.
Information from Scottish Borders Council
