Habchester

270. Fort, Habchester.

Situated on the west end of Lamberton Moor, 697 feet above sea-level and about 11 miles south-east of Ayton Church, is an oval fort (fig. 146 [DP 229124]) with its longest axis north-east and south-west, of which the north half has been entirely obliterated. The defences consist of two high, narrow-crested ramparts, with an intervening ditch and another ditch to the outside measuring, from the crest of the innermost rampart to the top of the counterscarp of the outer ditch, 78 feet across. The crest of the innermost rampart is 5 feet above the level of the interior and 12 feet above the bottom of the intermediate ditch, while the crest of the scarp of the outermost rampart is 9 feet 6 inches above the bottom of the outer ditch, and that of the counterscarp 6 feet 6 inches (fig. 147 [SC1096822]). In rear of the inner rampart is a zone, about 12 feet wide, of low mounds and hollows of irregular shapes, beyond which lies a continuous depression. The entrance has been at the east end, where the two ramparts conjoin. Along its longest axis the fort has measured in the interior some300 feet. The ramparts appear to be of earth and stone.

See Antiquaries, xxix. p. 169 (illus.); Carr's Coldingham, p. 7; Christison, p. 142.

RCAHMS 1915, visited 4th August 1908.

OS Map: Ber., xii. SW.

This oval fort measures 380' by 270' within two bold ramparts with external ditches. The NW sector has been ploughed away, but at the surviving entrance in the NE, the ramparts join round the head of the inner ditch. The NW sector of the defences is represented by the crest of a natural steep scarp, and it is probable that, in its original state, the fort would have been bounded on this side by only the inner rampart. Another feature is a quarry ditch at the inner foot of the remaining part of the inner rampart.

R W Feachem 1963; RCAHMS 1915, visited 1908.

A fort as described and planned.

Resurveyed at 1/2500.

A fort as described and planned.

Resurveyed at 1/2500.

This fort is situated on the NW end of a broad ridge which terminates in a steep escarpment and provides a commanding prospect of the country from Eyemouth on the coast to the N round to Foulden on the SSW. It lies on the parish boundary between Ayton and Mordington, which has evidently also served as a property boundary, leading to widely different levels of preservation to either side, and while the defences in Mordington on the SE of the boundary are amongst the best preserved in the whole of Berwickshire, those on the escarpment on the NW have been virtually obliterated. Nevertheless, the fort has been oval on plan, measuring 100m from NE to SW by 80m transversely (0.63ha) within the innermost rampart, though in the surviving sector this is accompanied by an internal quarry scoop some 8m in breadth by 0.5m in depth, and there are also slight traces of a raised lip along its inner scarp. Around the SE half the defences comprise twin ramparts with external ditches about 6m in breadth and an outer counterscarp bank; while the inner rampart measures over 8m in thickness and still stands up to 3.2m above the inner ditch, the middle rampart is about 6m in thickness and rises 2.3m above the outer ditch; the outer bank on the counterscarp of the outer ditch is minor by comparison, measuring no more than 2.3m in thickness by 0.5m in height. Together they form a belt about 29m deep, and though this is the most accessible side, there is no reason to believe that the defences were any less round the NW, where the line of only the inner rampart and its ditch can be traced on the ground with any confidence. An entrance on the NE with traces of a worn hollow riding up the slope into the interior preserves evidence of the innermost and middle ramparts returning to unite around the terminal of the ditch on the SE side, forming a bank up to 4m thick by 1m high flanking the entrance way, which is itself about 4.8m wide; there are also possible traces of an opposed entrance in the ploughed down sector on the SW. The greater part of the interior has been under plough and there is no evidence of any internal structures.

Information from An Atlas of Hillforts of Great Britain and Ireland – 30 May 2016. Atlas of Hillforts SC4153

Visibility: This is an upstanding earthwork or monument.

Information from Scottish Borders Council