Account of some Slight Excavations at the Mote of Hawick

Abstract

The mote, in the usual form of a truncated cone, rises steeply from ground level to a height of just over 28 feet and appears to be entirely artificial in its formation. Excavation revealed a ditch around the mote. The ditch appeared to be flat-bottomed, and from the difference in depth on the higher and lower sides it is evident that the mote had been constructed on a level platform cut out of the sloping ground. Numerous fragments of wheel-made pottery were recovered along with some glazed earthenware. A silver short cross penny of the first issue of Henry II of England (1154-1189) was found at the base of the ditch. It is argued that the evidence indicates Anglo-Norman occupation of a mote hill.