Description
The monument comprises the remains of a multi-vallate fort that is likely to date to the later first millennium BC. It survives as a series of concentric ditches and associated archaeological deposits that are visible on oblique aerial photographs. It is located in a mixture of cultivated and afforested land and is bisected by a farm track. It sits in locally high ground overlooking the S bank of the Billie Burn at 110m above sea level. The monument was first scheduled in 1991 but the documentation does not meet modern standards: the present rescheduling rectifies this.
The fort measures 150m at its widest diameter and is enclosed by three concentric ditches that are up to 5m wide. The well-defined breaks in its E and W halves are entrance features and while the W entrance appears as a simple causeway with inturned ditches, the ditches at the E entrance expand outwards and widen its defensive construction. Breaks in the N arc are less coherent as entrance features and may indicate deliberate works or be the result of later impacts. At the E side of the fort's interior, a crescent-shaped ditch suggests the position of an individual house, although no other internal features are visible on the aerial photographs.
The area to be scheduled is circular on plan centred on the fort, to include the remains described and an area around within which evidence relating to their construction, use and abandonment may survive, as shown in red on the accompanying map. The scheduling specifically excludes the above-ground elements of all modern fencing and the top 300mm of the track, to allow for their maintenance.
Statement of National Importance
Cultural Significance
The monument's cultural significance can be expressed as follows:
Intrinsic characteristics
The structural remains of this fort survive as significant plough-truncated features and represent the extensive earthwork defences of a fortified settlement. Excavation of similar examples in SE Scotland confirms that Oldcastles is likely to contain a range of artefactual and ecofactual material, both within the ditch fills and in the soil horizons of the fort's interior. The three ditches indicate an interesting development sequence here and researchers have suggested that the building of the two outer ditches to enclose an oval space represents one phase while the inner, more circular ditch, encloses the fort's interior as a second phase. The fort therefore has high potential in telling us about the building, use and re-use of these defended settlements and the daily lives of the people who lived here.
Contextual characteristics
Oldcastles is one example from a large and widespread class of Iron-Age enclosed settlement found widely throughout the country and with concentrations in E and SE Scotland. The form of this example has been interpreted as a defended settlement or fort and it belongs to a group of similar monuments located down from the uplands, along the water courses of the Merse. The majority of these forts are Iron Age in origin but earlier and later, early-historic examples are also known.
Such monuments are often situated in prominent rocky outcrops or summits that provide for good defence, a source of building material, greater visibility in the wider landscape, and they avoid the more productive, fertile lower-lying land. In this case, the fort is strategically positioned to cover ground between the Eye Water to the N and the Whiteadder Water to the south. Its position supports the idea that in SE Scotland these monuments were used to influence and control not just the surrounding landuse (in this case a fertile E-W corridor and water course) but also the passage of people northwards over the Lammermuirs and southwards towards the Tweed and Northumbria. Oldcastles sits in a landscape of broadly contemporary monuments that include a settlement 500m north and a palisaded enclosure 900m NNE of this site. This suggests continuity in landuse and settlement here and hints at the possible relationships, hierarchy and status that these forts commanded with wider communities. This monument therefore has the potential to contribute towards our understanding of forts and defended settlements, the reasons for their location and particularly those sited on low rises in or adjacent to the floors of valleys.
Associative characteristics
The name Oldcastles is referred to in the Old Statistical Account of Scotland and although the discovery of building foundations is recorded (for what is referred to as 'the baron's castle') it is not clear which monument or location is being recorded.
National Importance
The monument is of national importance because it has an inherent potential to make a significant addition to the understanding of the past, in particular the study of forts and wider Iron-Age society and economy in SE Scotland. Substantial and extensive archaeological deposits are depicted in aerial photographs and these have the high potential to preserve important artefactual and ecofactual evidence that can help us understand more of the architecture, living conditions, environment and interactions of the people who built the fort and lived here. The analysis of this and other forts in the region can help us understand the factors influencing the placing of these settlements, the wider landholdings to which they belong and social structure and economy during the Iron Age.
References
Bibliography
RCAHMS records the monument as NT85NE 25.
References:
RCAHMS 1980, THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES AND MONUMENTS OF BERWICKSHIRE DISTRICT, BORDERS REGION, The Archaeological Sites and Monuments of Scotland series No. 10, 26, No. 204, Edinburgh: Society of Antiquaries of Scotland.
OSA 1791-9, The Statistical Account of Scotland, drawn up from the communications of the ministers of the different parishes, Sir Sinclair J Edinburgh. 14, 34.
About Scheduled Monuments
Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designating sites and places at the national level. These designations are Scheduled monuments, Listed buildings, Inventory of gardens and designed landscapes and Inventory of historic battlefields.
We make recommendations to the Scottish Government about historic marine protected areas, and the Scottish Ministers decide whether to designate.
Scheduling is the process that identifies, designates and provides statutory protection for monuments and archaeological sites of national importance as set out in the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979.
We schedule sites and monuments that are found to be of national importance using the selection guidance published in Designation Policy and Selection Guidance (2019)
Scheduled monument records provide an indication of the national importance of the
scheduled monument which has been identified by the description and map. The description and map (see ‘legal documents’ above) showing the scheduled area is the designation of the monument under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979. The statement of national importance and additional information provided are supplementary and provided for general information purposes only. Historic Environment Scotland accepts no liability for any loss or damages arising from reliance on any inaccuracies within the statement of national importance or additional information. These records are not definitive historical or archaeological accounts or a complete description of the monument(s).
The format of scheduled monument records has changed over time. Earlier records will usually be brief. Some information will not have been recorded and the map will not be to current standards. Even if what is described and what is mapped has changed, the monument is still scheduled.
Scheduled monument consent is required to carry out certain work, including repairs, to scheduled monuments. Applications for scheduled monument consent are made to us. We are happy to discuss your proposals with you before you apply and we do not charge for advice or consent. More information about consent and how to apply for it can be found on our website at www.historicenvironment.scot.
Find out more about scheduling and our other designations at www.historicenvironment.scot/advice-and-support. You can contact us on 0131 668 8914 or at designations@hes.scot.
Images
There are no images available for this record, you may want to check trove.scot for images relating to Oldcastles, fort 350m NNW of
There are no images available for this record.
Search trove.scot
Printed: 31/10/2025 06:27