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Oatlee Hill
Settlement (Prehistoric)
Site Name Oatlee Hill
Classification Settlement (Prehistoric)
Canmore ID 59771
Site Number NT86NE 13
NGR NT 8831 6940
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/59771
- Council Scottish Borders, The
- Parish Coldingham
- Former Region Borders
- Former District Berwickshire
- Former County Berwickshire
NT86NE 13 8831 6940.
(NT 8831 6940) Settlement (NR)
OS 1:10,000 map, (1976).
This fort is situated at the SE end of Oatlee Hill; it comprises a small, roughly oblong enclosure surrounded by a single earth-and-stone rampart about 19ft wide at base and 3ft high, with an entrance on the W. At 28ft SE of the W corner the foundation of a wall runs at right angles to the rampart into the enclosure for a distance of 36ft. On a platform in the N corner is a circular depression, 29ft in diameter with an entrance to the S, and to the SE of it, abutting on the NE rampart, another with an internal diameter of 12ft.
RCAHMS 1915, visited 1908.
A simple enclosure situated on top of a rounded hill, as described by the RCAHMS. An additional feature is a well-defined hut circle lying outside the enclosure on the N side. It measures 6m in diameter and comprises a single circle of stones.
Visited by OS (JLD) 4 November 1954.
A settlement, as described by the previous authorities.
Revised at 1/2500.
Visited by OS (WDJ) 1 March 1966.
Roughly rectangular on plan, this settlement measures 26m by 24m within a wall (0.7m high and spread to a thickness of 3.8m) accompanied by a ditch; the entrance is on the NW. A stony capping on parts of the wall may represent refurbishing, possibly contemporary with a small enclosure which incorporates the W corner of the interior. At some date a stretch of wall has been realigned near the N corner. In the interior there is at least one, and possibly a second, house-platform. On the NE, possibly overlying the settlement ditch, there are the foundations of a circular house.
RCAHMS 1980, visited 1979.
Field Visit (7 August 1908)
79. Fort, Oatlee Hill.
At the south-east end of Oatlee Hill, at an elevation of 500 feet above the sea, and some 750 yards north-west of Westerside farm, is a small irregularly oblong enclosure (fig. 41 [DP 225488]) with its longest axis north-west and south-east, and surrounded by a single rampart of earth and stone about 19 feet wide at base and some 3 feet high. The interior area measures some 100 feet by 85 feet. The entrance is on the west side. At 28 feet southeast from the west corner the foundation of a wall runs at right angles to the rampart into the enclosure for a distance of 36 feet. On a platform in the north corner is a circular depression with a diameter of 29 feet and an entrance to the south, and to the south-east of it, abutting on the north-east rampart, another with an interior diameter of 12 feet.
RCAHMS 1915, visited 7th August 1908.
OS Map: Ber., v. NE. and vi. NW.
Sbc Note
Visibility: This is an upstanding earthwork or monument.
Information from Scottish Borders Council
