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Woden Law

Scottish Borders, Scotland · Atlas SC3408

Woden Law is a contour fort in Hownam, Scottish Borders, Scotland.

Other names on the record: Woden Law, 'Siege Works'.

It is recorded as extant, with a multivallate rampart form, surface evidence of earthen bank and stone wall, and an enclosed area of 0.59 hectares.

Banks or ramparts are the remains most likely to be visible.

The topographic record places it on a hilltop and at 421 m.

The aspect is recorded as level.

Recorded land use includes pasture and heather moorland.

A scheduled monument number is recorded (2125).

Location

Atlas number
SC3408 (3408)
Country
Scotland
Current county or unitary authority
Scottish Borders
Historic county
Roxburghshire
Parish, community, or townland
Hownam
National Grid reference
NT 7677 1254
Latitude
55.40633
Longitude
-2.36830
Altitude
421 m

Form and condition

Type
contour fort
Condition
Extant
Morphology
multivallate
Complete rampart circuit
Yes
Number of ramparts
4
Ramparts by quadrant
NE 4, SE 4, SW 4, NW 3
Number of ditches
1
Possible original entrances
3
Breaks through the ramparts
7
Enclosed area
0.59 ha
Enclosure areas
0.45 ha, 0.59 ha
Footprint
2.6 ha
Enclosing works, as visible
earthen bank and stone wall
Enclosing works, excavated
stone wall and counterscarp bank
Also recorded
annex, multi-period enclosure system, and ditches
Entrance forms
Simple Gap (North east); Oblique (North east); Over-lapping (East); Blocked (East); Oblique (East); Oblique (South east); Simple Gap (South west); Over-lapping (South west); Oblique (South west); Simple Gap (South east); Blocked (South west)

Landscape

Topographic position
hilltop
Aspect
level
Land use
pasture and heather moorland

Dating

Dating
undated
Dating reliability
D - None

Interior and investigation

Interior surface
other roundhouse evidence
Investigations
1st Identified Map Depiction (1755); 1st Identified Written Reference (1836); Other (1859); Other (1884); Excavation (1950); Earthwork Survey (1952); Other (1960); Other (1969); Other (1974); Other (1976); Other (1999)

Identifiers

Scheduled monument number
2125
HER
Scottish Borders 58068
National record
record NT 71 SE 15; monument 58068
Wikidata
Q31105689

Sources

References

  1. Geikie, J (1884) «List of hill forts, intrenched camps, etc. in Roxburghshire on the Scotch side of the Cheviots. Hist Berwickshire Natur Club 10 (1882_4) 139-44
  2. Halliday, S P (1982) 'Later prehistoric farming in South-Eastern Scotland'. 74-90 in Harding, D W, Later Prehistoric Settlement in South-East Scotland, University of Edinburgh, Department of Archaeology, Occasional Paper No 8. Edinburgh
  3. RCAHMS (1956) The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. An inventory of the ancient and historical monuments of Roxburghshire: with the fourteenth report of the Commission, 2v. HMSO: Edinburgh
  4. Richmond and St Joseph, I A and J K S (1982) 'Excavations at Woden Law, 1950'. Proc Soc Antiq Scot 112 (1982), 277-84