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Hirsel Law

Fort (Period Unassigned)

Site Name Hirsel Law

Classification Fort (Period Unassigned)

Alternative Name(s) The Hirsel Policies

Canmore ID 59635

Site Number NT84SW 7

NGR NT 82529 41600

Datum OSGB36 - NGR

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/59635

Ordnance Survey licence number AC0000807262. All rights reserved.
Canmore Disclaimer. © Bluesky International Limited 2025. Public Sector Viewing Terms

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Digital Images

Hirsel Law, NT84SW 7, Ordnance Survey index card, page number 1, Recto
Hirsel Law, NT84SW 7, Ordnance Survey index card, page number 1, RectoOblique aerial viewGeneral oblique aerial view of the country house and the remains of the motte and bailey castle, with Hirsel Law beyond, taken from the NW.Oblique aerial viewHirsel Law, NT84SW 7, Ordnance Survey index card, RectoHirsel Law, NT84SW 7, Ordnance Survey index card, Recto

Administrative Areas

  • Council Scottish Borders, The
  • Parish Coldstream
  • Former Region Borders
  • Former District Berwickshire
  • Former County Berwickshire

Archaeology Notes

NT84SW 7 NT 82529 41600

(NT 82504162) Fort (site), Hirsel Law: Cropmarks on air photographs (RCAHMS, flown 1977), reveal one, or possibly two ditches following the contours of this gentle whale-back ridge to enclose an area of about 3.7ha, a size which puts it in a class of 'minor oppida'. It is not visible on the ground (RCAHMS 1980).

H Welfare 1980; RCAHMS 1980, visited 1979.

Scheduled as 'Hirsel Law, fort... the remains of a hillfort, visible as the cropmarks of a pair of ditches.'

Information from Historic Scotland, scheduling document dated 5 January 2009.

Activities

Note (9 February 2016 - 31 August 2016)

Parchmarks photographed on a single occasion in 1977 revealed the site of a large fort on the hogbacked ridge known as Hirsel Law, while fieldwork by RCAHMS investigators in 1979 observed traces of the defences on the N, E and SE. Comprising a single rampart and ditch roughly following the contour, it measures internally about 315m from ENE to WSW by 170m transversely (4.4ha). The ditch is in the order of 4m in breadth and around the eastern and southern flanks, where the parchmarks also reveal the rampart, a dark mark to the rear may indicate shallow internal quarrying. No features are visible within the interior, and the parchmarks are too diffuse and ill-defined to identify any entrances. Nevertheless, a natural hollow that runs up the flank of the hill and crosses the line of the rampart a little to the E of the SW corner is a likely position for an entrance.

Information from An Atlas of Hillforts of Great Britain and Ireland – 31 August 2016. Atlas of Hillforts SC4078

Sbc Note

Visibility: This site is visible as a cropmark.

Information from Scottish Borders Council

References

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