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Latitude: 55.6198 / 55°37'11"N
Longitude: -3.0738 / 3°4'25"W
OS Eastings: 332473
OS Northings: 636774
OS Grid: NT324367
Mapcode National: GBR 63ZG.B8
Mapcode Global: WH6VD.R0HL
Entry Name: Caerlee Hill, fort
Scheduled Date: 31 March 1969
Last Amended: 8 March 2004
Source: Historic Environment Scotland
Source ID: SM2785
Schedule Class: Cultural
Category: Prehistoric domestic and defensive: fort (includes hill and promontory fort)
Location: Innerleithen
County: Scottish Borders
Electoral Ward: Tweeddale East
Traditional County: Peeblesshire
The monument comprises the remains of a prehistoric defended settlement visible as upstanding earthworks. The monument was originally scheduled in 1969, but recent revisions to the map coverage for the area have shown that the original designation did not sit accurately on the monument. The current rescheduling rectifies this.
The settlement lies between 240m and 258m OD, on the summit of Caerlee Hill, where it commands extensive views over the valley of the River Tweed and its confluence with the Leithen Water. The settlement measures approximately 60m N-S by 45m E-W and is defined by an enclosing rampart surviving up to 1.25m high and 5m wide, with an entrance on the NNW. Unusually, the material for the construction of the rampart appears to have come from an internal quarry ditch, although there is a shallow external ditch and a further upcast bank on the N side of the settlement just to the E of the entrance. Much of the E side of the settlement has been disturbed by quarrying, but on the W side at least 6 scooped building platforms can still be traced occupying the highest section of the hilltop. A later circular stone building measuring c.10m in diameter with low wall footings spread c.1m wide has been built amongst the platforms.
The area to be scheduled is irregular in shape and measures a maximum of 135m E-W by 155m N-S, to include the remains described above and an area around where material relating to the construction and use of the settlement may be expected to survive, as shown in red on the accompanying map. The above ground elements of fences and dykes within the scheduled area are specifically excluded from the scheduling.
Source: Historic Environment Scotland
The monument is of national importance because of its potential to contribute to our understanding of the character, function and development of prehistoric defended settlements and the contemporary economy and land-use. The relationship between this monument and the roughly contemporary fort on Pirn Hill, on the opposite side of the Leithen Water, is of particular interest.
Source: Historic Environment Scotland
Bibliography
The monument is recorded by RCAHMS as NT33NW7.
Source: Historic Environment Scotland
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