Eildon Hill North

About Eildon Hill North

This iconic Borders hilltop once boasted the largest Iron Age hillfort in Scotland. Occupied and fortified since the Bronze Age, its people interred treasures such as bronze axeheads around its slopes and venerated sacred springs dotted around the Eildon Hills.

Recent archaeological surveys revealed nearly 500 hut circles atop Eildon Hill North, each being the base of a timber roundhouse containing an extended family. Its population 2,000 years ago was greater than that of Melrose today. It was likely a regional capital of the Selgovae tribe, a name bestowed by the Romans meaning ‘the hunters’. It may not have been permanently occupied, instead used as a seasonal and ceremonial gathering place.

Eildon Hill North is the second highest of the three main Eildon Hills. Together they inspired the name of the nearby Roman fort of Trimontium – ‘place of the three hills’. Romans built a watchtower atop Eildon Hill North and likely forced its people to abandon it. These same people may, in turn, have played a role in the final abandonment of Trimontium in the early 180s AD.

Climbing the Eildons rewards you with spectacular panoramic views. There are many ways into the hills, with the popular walking route of St Cuthbert’s Way ascending from Melrose to the saddle between Eildon Hill North and Eildon Mid Hill. Under the ever-shifting light and with many details only revealed on repeat visits, no two walks into the Eildons are ever quite the same.

NB: Postcode gives approximate location. For accuracy use what3words: worthy.strange.clattered or National Grid Reference: NT 55450 32800