Fundhope Rig

NT81NE 23 from 86745 17619 to 86736 17560

See also NT81NE 2.

(NT 86739 17591) Homestead (NR)

OS 6" map, (1962).

Homestead, Fundhope Rig: On the S end of Fundhope Rig, there is a small heart-shaped enclosure formed by a single earthen bank. Its maximum internal measurements are 142' N-S by 123' E-W. The bank, which is derived from intermittent external quarry-trenches, including a double trench on the N side, is reduced to a crest-line on the E side; elsewhere it varies from 7' to 10' in thickness but is no more than 9" high. There is a single entrance, 11'6" wide, set at right angles to the enclosure wall in the N side, and the interior contains traces of two and possibly three hut circles, similar to the timber-framed huts noted at Hayhope Knowe (see NT81NE 18, probably occupied in the 1st century BC). (See RCAHMS 1956 plan, fig. 467).

RCAHMS 1956, visited 1938.

This homestead is as described by the RCAHMS.

Visited by OS (JLD) 24 August 1960.

No change to previous field report. Another ring-groove house, 7.8m in diameter is visible in the interior.

Visited by OS (DWR) 17 July 1973.

As described by the RCAHMS and field report of 1973.

Visited by OS (TRG) 9 August 1976.

A small enclosed settlement, overlying a possible palisaded enclosure, crowns the S end of Fundhope Rig, a low N to S running ridge overlooking the headwaters of the Kingseat Burn. On the W, moderately steep ground rises up to White Knowe which carries a well-established cross-border trackway.

The enclosure, which is heart-shaped, measures 43m from N to S by 37m within an earthen bank measuring from 2m to 3m in width, except on the E where it has been reduced to a low scarp, and standing up to 0.2m in height. The relatively poor preservation of the E side of the enclosure may be largely due to cord rig cultivation (NT81NE 49) spreading over the bank from the E as is suggested on oblique aerial photographs (D Harding, University of Edinburgh; RCAHMS). Entrances survive on the NW of the enclosure, where the bank appears to be deliberately offset to form a flanking work, and on the E, where the entrance is overlooked by a substantially swollen terminal on the S side.

Outwith this enclosure on the N, there are two further low banks lying just to the E of the NW entrance and, perhaps, these constructions represent an attempt to strengthen the defences on the side of the easiest approach. Alternatively they may be viewed, in conjunction with further fragmentary stretches of bank on both the E and SW sides, as part of an earlier, and largely destroyed, circuit.

Within the inner circuit, there are vestiges of up to seven houses and traces of what appears to be a palisade-trench lying within, and truncated by, the N angle of the enclosure. It is possible that this represents the final remnants of an earlier palisaded enclosure, largely obliterated by the construction of the present enclosure.

Thus, slight and very tenuous evidence points to up to three phases of enclosure on the tip of Fundhope Rig. The earliest, a possible palisaded enclosure is represented by a fragmentary stretch of palisade-trench. Subsequently, the focus of the site shifted S towards the tip of the spur (as at Craik Moor (NT81NW 6)) with the construction of an enclosure and, in turn, a second enclosure, built within the denuded circuit of the first.

The houses are all contained within the circuit of the latest enclosure and no relationships with earlier elements can be suggested. In terms of layout, houses (2, 4 and 5) appear set in a line running NE to SW across the site (as are those at Sundhope Kipp, Shoulder Hill and Greenborough) which may be a response to the direction of the prevailing wind.

House (1) is situated immediately E of the NW entrance and measures about 7m in overall diameter. It is defined by a shallow ring-groove measuring 0.5m across where best preserved on the E side. Elsewhere, it survives as little more than a trace, measuring 0.2m across and is not visible over the W side.

House (2) is of ring-ditch type and lies about 7m to the E of house 1 near the NE angle of the enclosure. It measures 10m in overall diameter and comprises a central platform, 7m in diameter surrounded by a ditch measuring 1m in width from lip to lip. On the NW side, there is a further external groove.

House (3) lies on the S side of the entrance in the W angle of the enclosure. Measuring 7.6m in overall diameter, it comprises a platform levelled into the slope on the E with traces of a single ring-groove, 0.4m wide, on the uphill side.

House (4) occupies the centre of the enclosure, lying between houses 2 and 3. It is defined by a ring-groove about 0.6m wide, measures 12m in overall diameter. Within and slightly off-centre, there is a shallow rectangular pit measuring 2m by 1m and 0.15m deep. The house lies to the S of two detached segments of shallow grooves, perhaps remnants of internal divisions of the enclosure or fragments of earlier structures. Traces of a further ring-groove surrounding the NE and NW sides of the hut site, are indicative of an earlier structure at this location or possibly that the structure is of double ring-groove type.

House (5) lies to the SW and and is slightly levelled into the slope. It averages 9m in diameter overall and there are traces of a ring-groove or ring-ditch, around all but the SW side. Fragments of an external bank survive on the N side.

House (6) lies at the S end of the enclosure and comprises a platform, measuring 6m in diameter, which has been levelled into the slope on the N.

Faint traces of what may be a seventh structure (7) lie immediately behind the S side of the E entrance and to the E of house 6.

Previously identified as a homestead by the RCAHMS (1956), the presence of at least six structures within the enclosure indicate a more extensive settlement. Given the spur-tip location of the site and the apparent design features of the entrances, if not the suggestion of defence in depth over the easier N approaches, Fundhope Rig, despite its denuded condition, is not dissimilar to sites like Elm Knowe, Mow Law and components at Craik Moor. Its position also permits control of the trackway passing along White Knowe to the W and could be considered a fort.

Information from RJ Mercer (University of Edinburgh) 15 March 1986

RCAHMS MS 2598. No. 47/618