Not always a lonely hill...

In the 140s-150's AD (the Antonine Period of Roman Occupation) a marching fort stood here to protect the route north from the Trimontium settlement near Melrose.   Up to a thousand men could be based here.

A few hundred years later (500's-600's), this part of Scotland was under the control of the Anglian's from Northumberland.     Three children's burial cists have been discovered on the hill - suggesting that there was a Christian community here long before the first kirk building known of in the 12th century.   The present nearby church building dates mainly to the 17th century.