© Mapbox · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Boundary data © Historic Environment Scotland
Foster Law is a post-medieval enclosure, ring ditch and pit alignment located in East Lothian, Scotland. The monument comprises earthwork features typical of early modern agricultural and settlement activity, with a substantial ring ditch suggesting either a defensive structure or a prominent domestic enclosure, accompanied by linear pit alignments that may relate to field boundaries or drainage systems. The site sits on bedrock of unnamed extrusive rocks from the Dinantian period, comprising felsic lava and felsic tuff formations that date to the Mississippian epoch, creating a naturally elevated landscape characteristic of East Lothian's volcanic geology.
The combination of enclosure and pit alignment indicates intensive land use during the post-medieval period, when such features became common throughout lowland Scotland. The ring ditch would have served practical purposes in drainage and definition of space, whether for domestic, agricultural or defensive functions. Foster Law is protected as a scheduled monument under Historic Environment Scotland reference SM5862, recognising its significance as evidence of early modern settlement and land management practices in East Lothian.
Foster Law,enclosure,ring ditch and pit alignment is a scheduled monument protected by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM5862. View the official record →
Foster Law is a post-medieval enclosure, ring ditch and pit alignment located in East Lothian, Scotland. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM5862.
Foster Law,enclosure,ring ditch and pit alignment dates from the post-medieval period, and is classified as a enclosure,ring ditch and pit alignment. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Foster Law,enclosure,ring ditch and pit alignment 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 SM5862.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Barberfield, enclosure 400m ESE of (7.1 km), Sandersdean, enclosure and ring ditch 160m N of (7.1 km), Colstoun House,medieval pottery kilns 450m E of (7.5 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Foster Law,enclosure,ring ditch and pit alignment'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.
Foster Law,enclosure,ring ditch and pit alignment stands on Unnamed Extrusive Rocks, Dinantian, bedrock that formed in the Mississippian. The rock here is felsic lava and felsic tuff.