Linthill

This fort, which occupies a promontory on the NE side of the Ale Water gorge SW of Linthill, was first revealed by aerial photography. The promontory has formed in a sharp bend in the river and comprises an elevated finger of ground extending SSW over a distance of over 400m parallel to the river on the W. The fort has been placed on the SW corner of the finger, where the escarpment dropping down to the river on the S and W is particularly steep, and is elsewhere defended by at least two wide-spaced ditches drawn across the neck from NW to SE, while a further 70m to the NE a narrower ditch also seems to have been designed to control access from the N, though not necessarily as part of the defences. The triangular area enclosed by the inner ditch measures about 75m in depth from NE to SW by a maximum of 90m transversely (0.42ha). The ditch is at least 6m in breadth, and there are possible traces of another ditch about 3m broad lying 8m in front of it. Both seem to spring from the edge of the escarpment on the S, but terminate short of the edge on the NW, probably indicating the position of an entrance approaching along the W margin of the promontory. Allowing for the presence of an inner rampart, the interior extends to about 0.36ha, but apart from various natural marking is otherwise featureless. In addition to these inner defences, traces of a massive outer ditch up to 8m in breadth lie about 30m to the NE, and are again pierced by an entrance causeway close to the W margin of the promontory. There is no stratigraphic relationship to demonstrate whether all these defences are contemporary or the result of successive periods of construction, but this outer perimeter would have increased the interior to an area measuring about 120m from NE to SW by 140m transversely (0.97ha).

Information from An Atlas of Hillforts of Great Britain and Ireland – 18 May 2016. Atlas of Hillforts SC4136

Visibility: This site is visible as a cropmark.

Information from Scottish Borders Council