| Summary : A sub-oval multivallate enclosure, now largely ploughed out. In the absence of excavation, its date is uncertain, but recent opinion suggests that the site may have begun as a henge, and was subsequently re-used in later prehistory as a defensive enclosure. There are two opposed entrances, east and west. The innermost ditch is a very faint cropmark. Outside this is a more substantial ditch, this being regarded by Harding and Lee as the probable henge ditch. Immediately outside this is a bank, which survives as an earthwork on the southern side. Outside this bank are two further ditch circuits, both noticeably narrower than the "henge" ditch. On the northwest side, a narrow double-ditched feature can be seen running concentric to the main ditch, and appears to close off the western entrance. Overall, the internal diameter ranges from 75 metres to 90 metres, and the external diameter from 131 metres to 165 metres. |
More information : [NT 92373510] Earthwork [NR]. (1)
Near circular, and formed of two ramparts, about 90 yds, and 120 yds wide respectively. The west side, though ploughed down, is still discernible, and traces of an entrance exists in the N.W. (2)
Listed as probably pre-Roman. (4)
Virtually ploughed out. Only the well-spread, southern arc of the inner, and vague traces of the outer ramparts survive. Published survey (25") revised. (5)
Condition unchanged. (6)
NT 923352: The ploughed out 'hillfort' at Flodden 'could possibly have begun life as a henge'. (7)
NT 923 351. Flodden camp. Scheduled. (9)
NT 924 351. South Flodden. Listed in gazetteer as a multivallate hillfort covering <0.40ha. (10)
NT 924 351. Flodden. Sub-oval enclosure surviving both as a cropmark and (in part) as an earthwork, situated at c.76m above OD on the gravel terrace of the River Till, c.1200m distant. The enclosure ditch is the innermost of several that go to make up a presumed Iron Age fort, and is included here on the grounds that its shape suggests a monument of henge type that had been reused for defensive purposes in a later period. Irregular ditched enclosure broken by two entrances of markedly asymmetrical appearance. Inside the main inner ditch is a faint circular slot terminating in a diffuse splodge. A stretch of bank survives as a visible earthwork outside the main inner ditch on the south. Beyond this are two further ditch circuits, narrower than the inner one. In the north-western sector a narrow double-ditched feature runs concentrically with the main ditch, closing off the main western entrance. The internal diameter ranges from c.75m to c.90m and the external diameter from c.131m to c.165m. The main ditch is c.7.5m wide and the entrances c.8.75m wide (figures estimated from transcription). Possible henge in early phase (inner ditch); domestic/defensive site in later periods. (11)
NT 923 351. Flodden camp. Scheduled No ND/440. (12)
A multivallate lowland fort occupies gently sloping ground at 70m AOD. In their most developed for the defences have consisted of two, and in some places three, concentric ditches of varying width and pierced by opposing east and west facing entrances. Both entrances are staggered for greater protection and possess outwards projecting ditches or 'hornworks' on either flank. The innermost ditch of the fort is markedly broader than the outer ditches, suggesting, prehaps, that this was initially a univallate site in its earliest defensive phase. if so, later elaboration was not accompanied by any increase in habitable area within. Overall the site measures c.170m east-west by c.140m north-south. the spacing between the ditches varies from c.8-10m. the area enclosed by the innermost (and broadest) ditch of the fort is about 0.5ha.
More or less centrally placed within the fort is a sub-circular ditched enclosure. Like the fort itself, this enclosure possesses opposing east and west facing entrances, but its ditch is markedly narrower. this enclosure measures c.55m in diameter and contains an area of c.02.ha. On either side of the west facing entrance the ditch is slightly everted, perhaps indicating a defensive or protective function. The relationship of the inner enclosure to the rest of the fort itself has been a matter of some debate and has yet to be satisfactorily resolved. It could represent a small defended enclosure or a proto-fort, or else a monument of some quite different kind. The suggestion that it is a henge has however not met with widespread support. (13)
The fort appears as a cropmark on very many aerial photographs. (3, 8, 14-16)
An aerial photograph of this site has been published. (17)
The site has been mapped from the air as part of the Milfield Geoarchaeology Project. (See archive object MD000293) |