(In the care of Historic Scotland)
Edinshall Broch stands on Cockburn Law overlooking the valley of Whiteadder Water, its walls stand up to 2m high. The interior measures 17m in diameter. The entrance passage and its guard-chambers are still visible, and there are three cells within the 5m thick wall.
The broch, probably dated around 100 AD, is surrounded by the remains of an earlier oval fort, once defended by double ramparts and ditches, and a later settlement of hut circles and enclosures.
The palimpsest* effect is evident, where although subsequent developments have changed the features of the settlement, they have left traces of earlier ramparts and enclosures
*palimpsest \PAL-ump-sest\,
noun:
1. A manuscript, usually of papyrus or parchment, on which more than one
text has been written with the earlier writing incompletely erased and still
visible.
2. An object or a place whose older layers or aspects are apparent
beneath its surface.
Palimpsest is from Latin palimpsestus, from Greek palimpsestos, scraped or rubbed again, from palin, again + psen, to rub (away).