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Borthwick Mains is a symbol stone located in Roxburghshire in the Scottish Borders. The monument stands on bedrock of the Hawick Group, a formation of wacke dating to the Wenlock period of the Silurian era. This durable local stone would have provided the stone from which the monument itself was carved. The site is protected as a scheduled monument by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM2127.
Symbol stones of this type date to the Early Medieval period and are characteristic of eastern Scotland. They bear incised designs, typically featuring abstract motifs and animal forms, whose exact meanings remain debated among scholars. The Borthwick Mains stone is part of a wider tradition of Pictish symbol stones that appear throughout the region, suggesting connections to Early Medieval settlement and territorial organisation in the Borders landscape.
The monument's survival in Roxburghshire, an area rich in Early Medieval archaeology, makes it an important record of the cultural practices of the communities who inhabited the region during the first millennium. Its position on glacially sculpted terrain typical of the Southern Uplands reflects the enduring relationship between people, stone and landscape that characterised settlement patterns in medieval Scotland.
Borthwick Mains,symbol stone is a scheduled monument protected by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM2127. View the official record →
Borthwick Mains is a symbol stone located in Roxburghshire in the Scottish Borders. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM2127.
Borthwick Mains,symbol stone 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 SM2127.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including The Dod, settlement, 110m NW of Filter Cottage, Dodburn (8.8 km), Dod,earthworks on right bank of Allan Water 670m WSW of (9.1 km), White Hill,fort (9.3 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Borthwick Mains,symbol stone's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Borthwick Mains,symbol stone stands on Hawick Group, bedrock that formed in the Wenlock. The rock here is wacke.