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Rink Hill is a hillfort of Iron Age date, located in Selkirkshire in the Scottish Borders. The fort occupies a naturally commanding position on wacke bedrock of the Hawick Group, a geological formation dating to the Wenlock period. This solid foundation provided the Iron Age inhabitants with a defensible site in the upland terrain characteristic of this region, where such strategic locations were carefully selected for settlement and control of the surrounding landscape.
The fort is protected as a scheduled monument by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM2119, reflecting its archaeological significance. Hillforts of this type were typically constructed during the later Iron Age, serving as centres of power, storage and defence. The Selkirkshire location places Rink Hill within a landscape that hosted numerous similar fortified settlements, indicating the regional importance of hilltop locations during the prehistoric period.
The site remains a key monument for understanding Iron Age settlement patterns in the Scottish Borders, where the interaction between defensive needs and available topography shaped the distribution of these impressive earthworks. The geological base of Hawick Group wacke has provided stable ground for the survival of the fort's structural remains across two millennia.
Rink Hill,fort is a scheduled monument protected by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM2119. View the official record →
Rink Hill is a hillfort of Iron Age date, located in Selkirkshire in the Scottish Borders. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM2119.
Rink Hill,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.
Rink Hill,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 SM2119.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Bell Hill,fort 910m NE of Smedheugh (4.5 km), Peel Hill, motte and bailey castle, Selkirk (4.7 km), Philiphaugh, settlement and burial ground 150m S of Calton Cottage (5 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Rink Hill,fort'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.
Rink Hill,fort stands on Hawick Group, bedrock that formed in the Wenlock. The rock here is wacke.