east-lothian-1924/05-100

Transcription

GARVALD & BARA.]HISTORICAL MONUMENTS (SCOTLAND) COMMISSION.[GARVALD & BARA.

broad at the base and 6 1/2 feet higher than the
ditch inside it, which is 7 feet broad and 1 foot
deep. This rampart begins about 20 feet from
the edge of the ridge at the western corner
of the fort and, at a distance of 26 feet from
the centre of the last, is carried across the
south-western end and along the south-eastern
flank, 5 1/2 feet lower than the inner one, on the
edge of the natural escarpment, which here falls
22 feet ; but the mound is greatly destroyed
on this flank. Outside this rampart across the
south-western end a broad ditch 19 feet wide
has been excavated, the depth on the scarp
being 9 feet and on the counterscarp 5 1/2 to 6 1/2
feet. A stone wall had occupied the top of
the counterscarp, but the greater part of it has
been swept away. However, for some 30 yards
towards the eastern corner it is clearly defined,
rising 1 1/2 feet above the outer level. It is
continued along the south-eastern flank at
the bottom of the natural escarpment, its
breadth at the base being 9 feet, the
height on the inside 1 foot and on the outside
4 feet. Along the north-western flank and
north-eastern end no other defences but the
almost obliterated inner rampart can be traced.
Further defences would seem to have been
necessary across the ridge at the north-eastern
end, but the plough has swept away all traces
of any such there. There is a suggestion of an
entrance at the western corner round the end
of the outer ramparts and through the inner,
where it seems to have been about 12 feet in
width.

xvi. S.W. 16 May 1913.

49. Hill Fort, No. 2, Park Burn, Newlands.-
Some 400 yards north-east of the last site, in
an adjoining grass field, on rolling ground and
at an elevation of 900 feet above sea-level, are
the fragmentary remains of an entrenchment.
Situated on the top of the steep left bank of
a tiny stream, 50 yards from where it joins
the Park Burn, all that remains is a rampart
17 feet wide at the foundations, rising 2 feet
above the inner level and 6 feet above the
outer level. This rampart, springing from the
edge of the bank of the stream 20 feet above
its bed, curves round from the south-east by
the south and west to the north-west, where
there is an entrance 15 feet broad. For about
30 feet beyond this, the rampart, though much

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reduced, is still traceable. The enclosure had
probably been circular except for a flattened
side along the top of the escarpment on the side
of the burn, and the longest diameter would
be about 84 feet.

xvi. S.W. 16 May 1913.

50. Fort " Black Castle," Newlands.-Round
the summit of a hillock, just inside the south-
east end of the strip of plantation known as
the Black Castle Woods, about 5/8 mile west of
Newlands and at an elevation of 900 feet above
sea-level, is the fort known as the " Black
Castle." It is almost

[illustration inserted]
FIG. 69.-Blackcastle,
Newlands (No. 50).

circular in outline (fig. 69)
and measures 383 feet in
length by 342 feet in
breadth inside, the longer
axes running north-west
and south-east. The
inner defence is formed
by a high stone wall over-
grown with grass, 18 feet
broad at base and rising 5 1/2 feet above
the inner level and 10 feet above the
bottom of a ditch outside, which now is 18 feet
broad and 1 1/2 to 4 1/2 feet on the counter-
scarp. An outer wall 7 feet broad at the found-
ation and 1 1/2 feet high is erected about 8 feet
from the edge of the counterscarp, but for some
distance round the north-east arc it is placed on
the edge of the ditch. Part of the outer wall on
the south-west flank appears on the edge of a
field outside the stone dyke which encloses the
plantation at this place, and a portion of it has
been destroyed in building the dyke. Near
the centre of the west arc and in the south
arc broad gaps 15 feet wide occur in the inner
wall, opposite which the ditch has not been
excavated or has been filled up. The outer
wall having been destroyed at these places, it
is impossible to say definitely if they had been
entrances, but this seems improbable, as some
of the foundation stones of the inner wall are
still in situ in these gaps. To the south-east,
what looks like an entrance passage some 10
feet wide with a slight wall on either side
2 1/2 feet high, extends for a distance of 42 feet
outwards from the edge of the counterscarp
of the ditch and through the outer wall, which
recurves into the walls of the passage on either
side, but this roadway is not carried over the