The Catrail is a linear earthwork in Roxburghshire, southern

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. It runs from Robert's Linn (), a burn (stream) flowing into the

Slitrig Water Slitrig Water (archaic Scots: ''Slitterick Waiter''; current Southern Scots: ''Slitrig Witter''), also known as the River Slitrig, is a river in the Scottish Borders. It is a tributary of the River Teviot The River Teviot (; gd, Abhainn T� ...

, westward and north-westward to the head of the Dean Burn (), a tributary of the

Borthwick Water The Borthwick Water ''( Border Scots: Borthwick Witter)'' is a river in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland, and a tributary of the River Teviot. The Aithouse Burn, the Howpasley Burn, and the Northhope Burn (amongst others) are some of the fe ...

. It is about {{convert, 11.5, mi, km, abbr=on long (as the crow flies), and consists of a ditch and bank. The Deil's Dyke was once considered to extend to the Catrail.

Description

The Catrail is discontinuous and although the various sections are not fully aligned they are considered parts of a single structure on the grounds that the profile is similar from section to section. Between sections, the line generally seems to follow the courses of streams and rivers. In profile, the earthwork consists of a ditch about 6–12 ft wide and 2–4.5 ft deep, and a parallel embankment about 8–13 ft wide and 2 ft high. There is generally a lesser bank running along the other side of the ditch which is quite wide but only a few inches high. The main bank is on the north-east side of the ditch. The Catrail cuts across the upper Teviot valley, separating the low-lying farmland to the north-east around Hawick in Teviotdale from the hillier up-river country to the south-west.

Interpretation

It is not known when or by whom the Catrail was made, or for what purpose. However, since it is not substantial enough to be an effective military barrier, it seems likely to have been a territorial boundary marker, possibly dating from the

Early Middle Ages The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th or early 6th century to the 10th century. They marked the start of the Mi ...

References

Archaeological sites in the Scottish Borders Ancient dikes Scheduled monuments in Scotland Linear earthworks