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Gray Coat is a pele-house situated in Roxburghshire, south-east Scotland, protected as a scheduled monument by Historic Environment Scotland. The structure stands on bedrock of the Hawick Group, a formation of wacke laid down during the Wenlock period of the Silurian. This grey metamorphic stone, quarried locally for centuries, provided the natural building material for fortified houses throughout the Border region.
Pele-houses were a distinctive feature of the Anglo-Scottish borderlands, constructed from the late medieval period through the 17th century to provide defensive shelter against cross-border raids. These compact stone towers combined domestic and military functions, with thick walls, small windows and secure ground floors designed to protect inhabitants and moveable property during times of conflict. Gray Coat represents this building tradition adapted to the geological and social conditions of the Scottish Borders.
The site's location in Roxburghshire places it within a landscape marked by numerous such towers, evidence of the endemic raiding and feuding that characterised the region. The pele-house survives as a physical reminder of the defensive architecture necessitated by this turbulent period, and contributes to the archaeological and historical record of settlement patterns in the Borders before relative stability came to the frontier.
Gray Coat,pele-house 370m SE of is a scheduled monument protected by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM3432. View the official record →
Gray Coat is a pele-house situated in Roxburghshire, south-east Scotland, protected as a scheduled monument by Historic Environment Scotland. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM3432.
Gray Coat,pele-house 370m SE of 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 SM3432.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Gray Coat,settlement 540m NE of Priesthaugh (0.4 km), Dod,earthworks on Gray Coat 540m SSW of (0.5 km), Priesthaugh,earthwork 130m SSE of (0.7 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Gray Coat,pele-house 370m SE of'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.
Gray Coat,pele-house 370m SE of stands on Hawick Group, bedrock that formed in the Wenlock. The rock here is wacke.