Shielknowe Burn

The present survey of the Halter Burn Valley undertaken by ACFA and BAS has its origins in the Cross-Border Archaeology Project (CBAP), supported by Scottish Borders Council (SBC) and Northumberland National Park Authority (NNPA with additional support being provided by Yetholm History & Archaeology Society (YH&AS), now YHS, and Hawick Archaeological Society (HAS) members.

The purpose of the project was to identify and record all sites of potential archaeological interest along the length of the Halter Burn Valley on both sides of the English/Scottish Border.

Part 1, Halterburnhead, was published in 2020 (Hirst, J. and MacInnes, D. [eds].). To date, the survey has recorded 161 features in Scotland and 46 on the English side of the border. Within Scotland, the features range in type from scooped settlements, forts, earthworks, unenclosed platforms, houses, sheep houses, fanks and folds, enclosures, a mill and mill dam. (DES Volume 18, 175; DES Volume 22, 157–8).

NT 84453 27307 A farm track and fence bisect this large, ditched enclosure (Canmore ID: 59297). At most, it measures 70m wide and would be sub-circular in plan but for the fact that the Shielknowe Burn has possibly eroded part of the NE arc. Internally, on the NW arc there is an oval depression, some 16m in diameter, which appears to have an entrance on its northern arc. Apart from a smaller, 5 x 3m depression near to the farm track, no other indications of past activities were observed.

NT 84590 26791 Some 20m from the NE corner of Witchcleugh Grange outer enclosure and straddling the Witchcleugh Burn, there are the ruinous remains of a horizontal mill. On the western side of the burn there are indications of drystone coursing and on the opposite bank there are the possible footings of a rectangular structure and also indications of a dam.

NT 85137 28051 Measuring internally approximatively 21 x 11m, a sub-rectangular enclosure is situated towards the western end of Burnt Humbleton Fort (Canmore ID: 59263). It is orientated NW–SE and both short sides utilise ramparts of the fort, otherwise the sides comprise low turf and stone banks spread up to 1.5m wide. An entrance appears to be situated on the long NE side.

The feature was recorded by RCAHMS in 1949 but the ACFA/ BAS interpretation reveals a larger configuration than that of the earlier one in which the fold is not mutual with fort ramparts.

A ‘horse fold’ on Burnt Humbleton is mentioned in a document dated 1687 (National Records of Scotland GD6/823).

NT 84787 27848 Situated about 5.0m SW of Humbleton Sike (Canmore ID: 344886) there is an upstanding drystone structure measuring overall 5.0 x 4.4m and 1.3m high maximum. The wall base is 1.0m wide but tapering to half this width at the top. An entrance is situated on its SW corner and, here, the SW wall has collapsed.

The structure overlies an earlier phase, measuring approximately 11.5 x 6.0m, which conforms to the plan as shown on the 1st Edition OS map where it is marked as a sheepfold. However, it is not present on the 2nd Edition map and, therefore, the later drystone remains are 20th-century in origin. Whether this later structure functioned as a sheepfold, shepherds’ bothy, or both, is unclear.

Archive: Scottish Borders Council HER and NRHE (intended)

Dugald MacInnes – Association for Certificated Field Archaeologists (ACFA) and Borders Archaeology Society (BAS)

(Source: DES Volume 23)

Visibility: This is an upstanding earthwork or monument.

Information from Scottish Borders Council