Northshield Rings is a prehistoric site, a

hillfort A hillfort is a type of earthwork used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze Age or Iron Age. Some were used in the post-Roma ...

near the village of

Eddleston Eddleston ( gd, Baile Ghille Mhoire) is a small village and civil parish in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland. It lies north of Peebles and south of Penicuik on the A703, which passes through the centre of the village. Nearby is the Great ...

and about north of

Peebles Peebles ( gd, Na Pùballan) is a town in the Scottish Borders, Scotland. It was historically a royal burgh and the county town of Peeblesshire. According to the 2011 census, the population was 8,376 and the estimated population in June 2018 wa ...

, in the

Scottish Borders The Scottish Borders ( sco, the Mairches, 'the Marches'; gd, Crìochan na h-Alba) is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Dumfries and Galloway, East Lothian, Midlothian, South Lanarkshire, West Lothi ...

, Scotland. It is a

Scheduled Monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...

Description

The fort, on a rounded hill a short distance south of Portmore Loch, has well-preserved defences. There is an inner rampart, north-north-west to south-south-east by , enclosing an area of . There are two ramparts outside this. There are three entrances, in the north-west, south and south-east. Within the inner enclosure, seven slight depressions have been found, of diameter , thought to be the sites of timber round-houses. The inner rampart rises up to above the interior, and above an external ditch. The outer ramparts are more substantial, with external quarry-ditches, providing a defence up to deep. It is thought that there were at least two phases of construction; it has been supposed, since the space between the inner rampart and the outer defences is up to wide, which would not be there if defences had been strengthened working outwards, that the outer ramparts were built earlier.

References

{{Reflist Hill forts in Scotland Archaeological sites in the Scottish Borders Scheduled Ancient Monuments in the Scottish Borders