Fort 350m SW of Fordel Mains Newbattle, Midlothian, Scotland, UK

Scheduled Monument Statement of Significance

© Crown Copyright text courtesy of Historic Environment Scotland, reprinted under the Open Government License.

The monument is of national importance because of its potential to contribute to our understanding of prehistoric defensive settlement and economy. The site may be expected to contain material relating to rampart construction and contemporary environment and economy while the interior may be expected to provide information relating to prehistoric domestic organisation.

Scheduled Monument Description

© Crown Copyright text courtesy of Historic Environment Scotland, reprinted under the Open Government License.

The monument comprises the remains of a fort of later prehistoric date represented by cropmarks visible on oblique aerial photographs.

The monument lies on a prominent ridge in arable farmland at around 190m OD. It comprises a multivallate, sub-circular enclosure with a diameter of approximately 170m with a possible entrance in the SE marked by slightly inturned ditch terminals. Two ditches are visible around the entire site with the arc of a third, inner ditch intermittently visible.

Inside the NE area of the fort is a sub-rectangular ditched enclosure of about 25m NW-SE by 30m NE-SW. An internal subdivision inside its NW corner defines an area some 15m square. The site appears to represent a later prehistoric fort of some complexity and chronological depth, since the internal structure overlaps with elements of the defences.

The area to be scheduled encompasses the visible features and an area around them in which traces of associated activity may be expected to survive. It is circular with a maximum diameter of 210m as shown in red on the accompanying map.

Scheduled Monument References

© Crown Copyright text courtesy of Historic Environment Scotland, reprinted under the Open Government License.

RCAHMS records the monument as NT 36 NE 21.