Catrail

NT40NE 58 from 4534 0672 to 4700 0500. LIN 2.

Catrail (NR)

OS 6" map, 1923

The Object Name Book of the Ordnance Survey describes the 'Catrail or Picts' Work Ditch' as 'The remains of a trenched fortification which runs through the Counties of Roxburgh and Selkirk. At several places the ditch which has been of considerable depth can still be distinctly ?(seen) on the south side. In some districts the fortification is known as the Picts work ditch, but in this County it is well known as the Catrail a name which is said in British to signify the Dividing Fence.

Name Book 1861

The work originates, with a butt end, near the foot of a very steep slope - still the W face of Gray Coat, but some 300ft lower in elevation than the end of the preceding section (NT40SE 21) - and then descends in a swinging curve to the Dod - Priesthaugh road through easier ground which has been under fairly recent cultivation. Where it is cut off by the road it is aligned on the earthworks (NT40NE 23) on the Allan Water, and Lynn records (Lynn 1898) that in 1897 it was still visible as a cropmark crossing the cultivated field from the road to the earthworks. From here to Doecleuch the Allan Water has evidently replaced the ditch and bank as a boundary mark, as two burns and the Teviot appear to have done farther on. Stobie's map (1770) actually marks the Catrail between these points, but the line taken suggests that he confused the earthwork with an old road.

The next surviving fragment is found on the NW slope of Doecleuch Hill, running uphill from apoint about 215 yds above the house of Doecleuch (NT 460 061). It may originally have rested on the head of the small burn S of the house. The work is too much wasted for measurement, but the remains of a ditch with a greatly spread mound to the N of it can be identified for a distance of about 40 yds. Higher up the slope all traces have been removed by cultivation, but the work reappears on the W side of the Teindside - Priesthaugh road where this passes between Doecleuch Hill and Gray Hill, and runs thence due W for 370 yds to end at the edge of the swamp SE of Old Northhouse (NT 451 067). The plan preserved in the Library of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland (supra) shows its lower end resting on Chapel Cleuch, just SW of Old Northhouse, as that of another section rests of Barry Sike; and in all probability the line that the work defines was carried on from this point by the Cleuch, and lower down by the Northhouse Burn into which it flows, as far as the River Teviot. Near the top of this section the dimensions of the work are virtually the same as those recorded E of the Dod Burn. As it approaches the swamp the ditch becomes shallower, the main bank becomes lower and the spoil-bank disappears. The lowest 20 yds are marked by a ditch alone, 15ft to 20ft wide.

RCAHMS 1956

NT 4533 0672 to NT 4559 0671. The Catrail runs E-W down a moderate W-facing slope; it comprises a ditch and upcast bank up to 5.0m wide and 1.1m deep on the N side. At its W end the work merges with field banks on the edge of low marshy ground, and at its E end it appears to turn S before immediately being overlaid by a road on this same course.

The projected continuation along an old footpath to Doecleuch (NT 462 063) is reasonable, but there is no trace of it.

Visited by OS (JRL) 19 December 1979.

The section of the ditch shown on the OS 6" Provisional map and annotated Catrail between NT 4768 0588 to NT 4827 0568 is almost certainly not part of this linear feature although it is probably a boundary work (see NT40NE 19).

Visited by OS (MJF) 17 January 1980.

Though annotated on the OS maps (OS 1:10000, 1978) as the 'Catrail', recent fieldwork has cast further doubt on this section as part of that earthwork. The fact that this section would seem to have a different constructional appearance and forms a discontinuous line from the section that runs from Robert's Linn to Priesthaugh (NT50SW 10) has led to their connection being questioned.

Information from RCAHMS (DE) October 1995.

NT 4821 0500 to NT 4815 0502. This earthwork extends from the upper limit of once cultivated land to the W of the Langside Burn (NT 4997 0370). It runs steeply across the ridge of the Pike (NT 494 045), across the Penchrise Burn (NT 4886 0488) and a further, lower ridge of high ground to terminate at the head of the Barny Sike (NT 4815 0512). It is largely as described by RCAHMS with a definite ditch traceable over most its course, flanked on the N/NE by a main bank and on the S/SW by a slighter counterscarp bank. The overall dimensions are 5.5m-6.5m wide and 0.7m-1.2m high (see also NT40SE 21).

NT 4825 0575 to NT 4770 0590. The position of this earthwork (also known as NT40NE 19) is somewhat dislocated from the Catrail, but similarities in its course and character allowed its acceptance by the RCAHMS. Running from the head of a dry linear gully to the W of Dod Burn, it ascends the ridge of Gray Coat along a slightly sinuous course, is crossed by the property boundary along the spine of that ridge and finishes abruptly on the shoulder overlooking the Allan valley. Consists of a ditch with a bank to the N.

NT 4675 0535 to NT 4630 0540. This section consists of a broad low bank some 4m across. There is no ditch. It runs from near foot of the steep Peel Brae ridge where it has an abrupt, round terminus, to the Dod/Priesthaugh road, by which it is clearly cut. The RCAHMS has followed the received opinion that it is part of the Catrail, although the differences in form suggest that its position and alignment may well be fortuitous. It is abutted near its upper end by a length of eroded head-dyke running S.

NT 4561 0672 to 4535 0672. This section is visible on the W side of the Teindside-Priesthaugh road between Doecleuch Hill (NT 4559 0627) and Grey Hill (NT 4574 0717). It runs W, down to the edge of the boggy ground SE of Old Northhouse (NT 4516 0689). It consists of a ditch with a bank on the N and a slight counterscarp bank to the S.

NT 4562 0640 to NT 4561 0672. This is a speculated section of the Catrail. It runs from the S end of Gray Hill (NT 4575 0716) along the ridge of Doecleuch Hill (NT 4557 0640) just E of its crest, through a mature conifer plantation towards the middle of a large field of improved pasture. The S end is severely damaged by cultivation. The N end overrides the filled ditch of the Catrail from NT 4561 0672 to 4535 0672 and abuts its bank close to the modern road between Teindside and Dod. Where both are still visible, the bank (2m by 0.25m) lies on the E side of the ditch (1.5m by 0.3m). Badly damaged by ploughing and plantation trenches, the only well-preserved section being the 15m at the N end used as a field boundary at present. It is probably an early agricultural dyke and not part of the Catrail.

Information from J Milln, in J Barber 1999.