Shannabank Hill

3. Hill Fort, Shannabank Hill.

On the top of this hill, about ½ mile north-west of the parish church, and at an elevation of 803 feet above sea-level, is a fortified site (fig. 1 [DP 225406]) consisting of an oval enclosure 248 feet in length by 208 feet in breadth, surrounded by two low stony ramparts approximately parallel except towards the west, where they converge above a bank which slopes abruptly to the Monynut Burn. At the south end, from crest to crest of rampart, these defences measure 66 feet across. At the northern extremity and abutting on the outer rampart are the remains of a circular enclosure, within a single rampart. The entrances are not very distinct, but there appear to have been two through the outer rampart-one from the east side, and the other from the north. Several circular foundations are apparent partially against and upon the inner rampart on the east side, and there is another situated outside the inner rampart at the north end close to the west side. Adjacent to the outer rampart on the east side are several circular depressions, the most distinct of which has a diameter of 11 feet and a depth of 2 feet. The interior appears to have been at one time under cultivation. Some irregular foundations lie at the edge of the bank some 200 yards south of the fort. They are probably of later date.

RCAHMS 1915, visited 5 August 1908.

OS Map: Ber., x. NW.

This fort is situated on the SW end of the summit of Shannabank Hill, at the top of a steep defile dropping down on the W to the left bank of the Monynut Water, but its ramparts are heavily reduced and the whole fort has been cultivated in low rigs. Oval on plan, it measures internally about 73m from N to S by 55m transversely, and around most of the circuit its defences comprise two ramparts set about 12m apart, the exception being along the steep W flank, where only the inner is visible. Both have been reduced to low stony banks, the inner spread 6m in thickness by 0.4m in height, and the outer 5.3m by 0.7m respectively, and there are only the slightest traces of any accompanying ditches. There are no clearly defined entrances, though James Hewat Craw's plan (RCAHMS 1915, 2-3, no.3, fig 1) shows gaps in the inner rampart on the NNW, N, E and SSW, the first and the last also appearing on the depiction on the 1st edition OS 25-inch map (Berwick 1862, sheet 10.1). Several vague hollows within the interior are possibly ploughed over house platforms, and on the NNE a small late Iron Age settlement enclosure appears to impinge upon the outer rampart. The scooped interior of this enclosure measures 25m from ESE to WNW by 21m transversely and contains at least one house platform, while immediately on its SE there is a possible stone-founded round-house.

Information from An Atlas of Hillforts of Great Britain and Ireland – 18 May 2016. Atlas of Hillforts SC4070

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

Visibility: This is an upstanding earthwork or monument.

Information from Scottish Borders Council