Scheduled MonumentsScotlandBlackcastle Rings,fort
Iron Age · Fort

Blackcastle Rings,fort

Scotland
HES SM363
Period
Iron Age
Site type
Fort
Nation
Scotland
Boundary

Scheduled area

© Mapbox · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Boundary data © Historic Environment Scotland

Overview

History & significance

Blackcastle Rings is an Iron Age fort located in Berwickshire, Scottish Borders. The site comprises a series of concentric defensive earthworks, characteristic of hillforts constructed during the later prehistoric period in northern Britain. The multiple ramparts and ditches demonstrate the investment in fortification typical of Iron Age communities, suggesting its role as a significant settlement or defensive stronghold within the regional landscape. The fort's precise chronology within the Iron Age remains subject to ongoing archaeological interpretation, though such fortified sites generally date from the mid-first millennium BC onwards.

Blackcastle Rings,fort is a scheduled monument protected by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM363. View the official record →

About this monument

Questions & answers

What is Blackcastle Rings,fort?

Blackcastle Rings is an Iron Age fort located in Berwickshire, Scottish Borders. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM363.

What period does Blackcastle Rings,fort date from?

Blackcastle Rings,fort dates from the iron age period, and is classified as a fort. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.

Who is responsible for protecting Blackcastle Rings,fort?

Blackcastle Rings,fort is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by Historic Environment Scotland — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in Scotland. The official designation reference is SM363.

What other scheduled monuments are near Blackcastle Rings,fort?

Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Herrits Dyke,linear earthwork 2400m N of Greenlaw,Greenlaw Moor (1.5 km), Eastfield, barrow 650m NW of (2.9 km), Harelaw Moor,earthwork 750m ENE of Barebreeks Wood (2.9 km).

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Everything a full report reveals about Blackcastle Rings,fort

This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Blackcastle Rings,fort's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:

Overview
An interactive map of the location with every monument and battle plotted, and a plain-language history built only from what the record holds.
Monuments
The legally protected scheduled monuments around the location, each with its period, type and significance.
Battlefields
The battles and sieges fought on this ground, mapped and set on a timeline of the wider conflict.
Roman Britain
The Roman roads, forts and towns near here, and the Iron Age people who held the land before Rome arrived.
Stat Accounts
The parish Statistical Accounts of the 1790s and 1830s, describing life, work and population here.
Civil War
The Civil War fighting, garrisons and recorded militaria in this area, woven into the arc of 1642 to 1651.
Geology
The bedrock beneath the site, its age and rock type, reaching back hundreds of millions of years.
Local Names
What the street and field names around here actually mean, and the history buried inside them.
Historical Maps
Ordnance Survey maps from the 1800s, layered over the location as it stands today.
Literature
The books, county histories, charters and archives that mention this place, quoted with their sources.
Legal
The protected sites nearby and the metal-detecting, access and treasure laws that apply to this ground.
Spotlight
A deep dive into the most remarkable, lesser-known history of the place, traced back to the record.
Target Zones
For detectorists: the most promising ground to search nearby, ranked by confidence, with what to expect.
Timeline
The whole story of the location told era by era, from prehistory to the present day.
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The ground beneath

The bedrock under Blackcastle Rings,fort

Blackcastle Rings,fort stands on Stratheden Group, bedrock that formed in the Late Devonian. The rock here is sandstone and conglomerate, interbedded.