Wrunklaw

248. Promontory Fort, Wrinklaw (Wrunklaw or Runklie).

This fort (fig. 122 [DP 228317]) is situated at the base of the Wrinklaw, on a promontory formed between the Water of Dye and a small stream which flows down a glen on the north-east, some 900 feet above sea-level and 1 ½ miles or thereby distant from the village of Longformacus. The face of the bank overlooking the Dye to the southward is abruptly steep, and has an elevation of about 150 feet, while on the north-east flank the glen of the burn likewise provides a strong natural defence. Across the neck of the promontory facing the higher ground on the northwest there rises a rampart with a height of some 4 to 5 feet, pierced by an entrance near the centre, and to the south of that covered by a trench, 10 to 12 feet deep, which, beyond the termination of the rampart, is continued down the bank at a little distance from the fort. Some 86 feet south of the rampart occurs a second line of defence, a trench some 36 feet wide from crest to crest, with a mound in rear of it some 6 feet in height which curves slightly towards the steep flanks at either end. Within the fort are the remains of a number of rectangular foundations in two contiguous rows, and of other buildings, all probably connected with some late secondary occupation.

See Antiquaries, xxix. p. 156 (plan); Ber. Nat. Club, 1882-84, p. 24.

RCAHMS 1915, visited 8th October 1908.

OS Map: Ber., ix. SW.

The remains of this fortification are situated low down on the SW flank of Wrunklaw, on a sloping promontory formed between the steep slope dropping down to the N bank of the Dye Water and a shallow stream gully descending obliquely across the hillside. The site of a farmstead during the late 18th century, which was itself superseded by a shepherd's cottage in the early 19th century, the promontory is occupied by the footings of a series of rectangular buildings and attached yards, but on the NW these override two ramparts and ditches set some 27m apart. These bar access from the NW and the inner may also extend along the SW flank down to the tip of the promontory, enclosing a D-shaped area measuring about 70m from NW to SE along the chord by a maximum of 50m transversely (0.25ha). The outer ditch, which is over 10m broad by 3.5m in depth is visible only on the SW of a central entrance, but at the SW margin of the promontory it opens into an irregular gash that plunges down the slope to the very bottom of the valley. The precise origin of this feature is unclear, cutting across the line of a terraced trackway obliquely mounting the slope; indeed, traces of three trackways can be seen on the slope immediately below the interior, and though their precise relationship to the inner rampart is ambiguous, this appears to have been a long-standing point of access into the interior.

Information from An Atlas of Hillforts of Great Britain and Ireland – 04 August 2016. Atlas of Hillforts SC4039

The location, classification and period of this site have been reviewed.

Visibility: This is an upstanding earthwork or monument.

Information from Scottish Borders Council