Springhill
Enclosure (Prehistoric), Fort (Iron Age), Quarry(S) (Period Unassigned)
Site Name Springhill
Classification Enclosure (Prehistoric), Fort (Iron Age), Quarry(S) (Period Unassigned)
Alternative Name(s) Birgham Haugh
Canmore ID 58322
Site Number NT73NE 17
NGR NT 7878 3864
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/58322
- Council Scottish Borders, The
- Parish Eccles
- Former Region Borders
- Former District Berwickshire
- Former County Berwickshire
Cropmarks on aerial photographs record a ploughed down Iron Age fort situated on a terrace beside the River Tweed some 200m south-east of Springhill.
The fort is oval on plan, measuring about 65m by 50m within three broad ditches, each of which would have been accompanied by a rampart. Other cropmarks on the photographs reveal a ditch to the north-east, which may be an outwork of the fort, that cuts across an enclosure about 25m square. Other cropmarks disposed in a line along the leading edge of the terrace are quarries, presumably for sand and gravel, which postdate the fort.
Text prepared by RCAHMS as part of the Accessing Scotland's Past project
NT73NE 17 7878 3864.
NT 787 386. (CUCAP AP's and RCAHMS, flown 1976 and 1979), Cropmarks reveal the triple ditches of a fort situated 200m SE of Springhill and measuring about 65m by 50m internally. Immediately NE of the fort there is what may be an associated ditch about 2m broad which runs from E to W over a distance of at least 70m. It cuts across a small enclosure measuring about 25m square within its ditch.
G S Maxwell 1978; RCAHMS 1980.
Scheduled as Birgham Haugh, fort and enclosures.
Information from Historic Scotland, scheduling dsocument dated 25 March 1991.
Note (27 January 2016 - 18 May 2016)
This fort is situated to the S of Birgham, exploiting a low rise and an escarpment dropping down to Birgham Haugh along its SE side. Oval on plan, it measures about 85m from NE to SW by 55m transversely (0.4ha) within three concentric ditches forming a belt 26m deep; allowing for the presence of the inner rampart, the interior probably enclosed about 0.31ha. On the SW, despite the edge of the field obscuring the cropmarks, there are traces of the inner ditch turning back along the escarpment, but the middle and outer ditches run straight out onto the slope; conversely, on the NE, where the detail is also obscured by two large maculae, the ditches may terminate just short of the edge of the escarpment, probably marking the position of an entrance. These maculae are just two of a series that are scattered along the edge of the escarpment, and while most may simply be old gravel-pits, others may mark the stances of circular and rectangular structures; the character of the irregular maculae that fall within the interior can only be determined by excavation. The only other feature of note is an outlying ditch no more than 1.5m in breadth, which springs from the lip of the escarpment some 70m NE of the fort and is drawn in a shallow arc towards the defences on the N, though it terminates well short of the outer ditch; its relationship to the fort is unknown, intersecting a small sub-rectangular enclosure and possibly enclosing traces of several ring-grooves between it and the fort.
Information from An Atlas of Hillforts of Great Britain and Ireland – 18 May 2016. Atlas of Hillforts SC4041
Sbc Note
Visibility: This site is visible as a cropmark.
Information from Scottish Borders Council
