east-lothian-1924/05-099

Transcription

GARVALD & BARA.] INVENTORY OF MONUMENTS IN EAST LOTHIAN. [GARVALD & BARA.

which are possibly secondary ; one has been
rectangular, the others are roughly circular.

xv. S.W. 17 May 1913.

47. Fort, Kingside Rig near West Hopes.-
This fort is situated near the crest of the ridge
between Soonhope Burn and Hopes Water, some
600 yards west-north-west of West Hopes and
about the same distance east-south-east of
Harelaw Fort, at an elevation of 1200 feet above
sea-level. The hill slopes with a gentle fall to
the north-east but the flanks are very steep
especially to the south, where there is a descent
of some 400 feet in 500 yards to the Hopes
Water. The

[illustration inserted]
FIG. 68.-Fort, Kingside Rig
(No. 47).

fortified area,
which encroach-
es on the Yester
parish bound-
ary, is irregular
in shape and has
been surround-
ed by a stone
wall, many of
the outer facing
foundation
stones being
still in situ. It
has been badly
misused, and
as the bulk of the stones have been re-
moved, and several gaps have been made right
down to the foundations, it is difficult to as-
certain definitely what was the original plan
of the structure at certain parts. The longer
axis lies north-east and south-west and the area
measures internally 188 feet by 168 feet (fig. 68).
The single wall which surrounds it is 9 feet
broad at the base and rises 4 feet at most above
the interior. Outside this wall on the western
side, which is most easily assailed, there
is a trench 16 feet wide, 4 feet deep on
the scarp, and 2 feet on the counterscarp. At
the southern corner, where there is a con-
siderable gap, the wall on the south-east
is carried beyond the line of the south-western
wall, while a very large gap has been made at
the north-western corner through which the
parish boundary runs. There are also two
smaller gaps on the south-eastern side. The
original entrance to the north-east is marked

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on its north side by two large stones
and it seems to have been about 10 feet wide.
Impinging on the inside of the wall to the
east of the large gap on the north-west are
the stony foundations of a hut circle 20 feet in
diameter, which appears to have been entered
from the east. Between it and the north-
eastern entrance other foundations are seen,
but these are too fragmentary to determine
the size and form of the structures. In the
northern segment of the fort are two hut circles
measuring respectively about 10 and 12 feet
in diameter. Some 16 feet along the south-
eastern wall from the entrance are the foun-
dations of a stone wall 4 feet broad running a
distance of 67 feet towards the centre of the
fort, and 48 feet farther along a second similar
foundation can be traced for 30 feet. There
is some evidence that the latter may have
been continued farther and carried round to
meet the former so as to form a four-sided
enclosure. About 48 feet from the southern
corner the foundations of another stone wall,
now spread over a width of 7 feet and rising
about 2 feet in height, appear to run for a
distance of over 20 feet into the interior.

xv. S.E. 15 May 1913.

48. Hill Fort, Park Burn, Newlands.-
In a field of permanent pasture near the north-
eastern and lower end of a gradually sloping
ridge with steep sides below Dod Law, some
300 yards south-east of the plantations known
as Park Strips and at an elevation of 950 feet
above sea-level, is a quadrangular fort, with
rounded angles, occupying the whole breadth
of the crest of the ridge. It is rather broader at
the south-western than at the north-eastern
end. The main axis runs north-east and south-
west and internally the area measures 190 feet
in length by 156 feet in breadth about the
middle. The interior of the fort is surrounded
by a low rampart of earth almost obliterated for
the greater part. At the south-western end,
the best preserved portion, it rises at most
about 1 foot above the inner level and is spread
over a width of 20 feet. This is succeeded by a
second rampart now almost levelled to the
ground, which crosses the ridge and returns at
the ends to join the inner mound. The distance
between the crests of these mounds is 37 feet.
The next defence is an earthen rampart 16 feet

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