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The Rings is an Iron Age fort and settlement situated 910 metres south-south-west of Glenholm in Peeblesshire, Scottish Borders. The monument occupies land underlain by wacke bedrock of the Shinnel and Glenlee Formations, dating to the Ashgill period, which would have presented a challenging landscape for construction and settlement. The fort comprises the characteristic defensive earthworks of the Iron Age period, with settlement remains contained within or adjacent to its fortifications.
The site sits within the rolling moorland terrain of upper Peeblesshire, an area that supported scattered Iron Age communities engaged in pastoralism and mixed agriculture. The underlying geology—hard, fractured wacke rock typical of the Southern Uplands—influenced both the siting of the fort and the subsistence patterns of its inhabitants, as the thin soils would have limited arable farming in favour of stock raising.
The Rings is protected as a scheduled monument under Historic Environment Scotland reference SM3031, recognising its significance as evidence of Iron Age settlement and territorial control in the Scottish Borders. The site contributes to our understanding of how prehistoric communities adapted to upland terrain and constructed defended settlements in this frontier region of Iron Age Scotland.
The Rings,fort & settlement 910m SSW of Glenholm is a scheduled monument protected by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM3031. View the official record →
The Rings is an Iron Age fort and settlement situated 910 metres south-south-west of Glenholm in Peeblesshire, Scottish Borders. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM3031.
The Rings,fort & settlement 910m SSW of Glenholm dates from the iron age period, and is classified as a fort & settlement 910m ssw of glenholm. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
The Rings,fort & settlement 910m SSW of Glenholm 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 SM3031.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Whiteside Rig, fort & enclosure (7.2 km), Menzion Farm, Giant's Stone, cairn & standing stones 590m NE of (8.1 km), Menzion Farmhouse, two enclosed cremation cemeteries 400m NNW of (8.2 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of The Rings,fort & settlement 910m SSW of Glenholm'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.
The Rings,fort & settlement 910m SSW of Glenholm stands on Shinnel Formation And Glenlee Formation (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Ashgill. The rock here is wacke.