Peniel Heugh Hillfort

About Peniel Heugh Hillfort

Now dominated by the Waterloo Monument visible for many miles all around, Peniel Heugh was once home to two subsequent and overlapping Iron Age settlements. Both were built upon a volcanic outcrop offering numerous benefits, with wide-ranging views and the potential for incorporating the extremely hard volcanic stone into the defences.

This is precisely what the builders of the later fort did. Huge stones up to 1 metre high and wall facing up to 1.8 high can still be seen on the north flank. The earlier fort was oval-shaped with concentric ramparts, covering an area some 175 metres by 75 metres. The later fort enclosed the whole summit area with a single stone wall. Given Peniel Heugh’s proximity to Eildon Hill North, it was likely built by the same broad group of people who inhabited that massive tribal capital.

More modern monumental architecture has erased many signs of these hillforts. When the Waterloo Monument was built, much of Peniel Heugh was levelled and masons’ chippings were dumped all around. Much of the masonry was quarried from the volcanic hill itself, with a gouge still visible and often filled with water.

The monument commemorates the Duke of Wellington’s victory over Napoleon in 1815, but it wasn’t the first. An earlier pyramid design was built but came crashing down within a year. It was replaced by the ‘Triumphal Column’ design by Archibald Elliot begun in 1817 and completed a decade later.

NB: Postcode is for approximate location. For accuracy use what3words: included.thumps.grad or National Grid Reference: NT 65350 26300