Dirrington Great Law

About Dirrington Great Law

Rising as a distinct, volcanic island south of the Lammermuir Plateau, this Marilyn offers a breezy, heather-clad ascent. The summit is dominated by three massive Bronze Age cairns, providing a stark, stony contrast to the surrounding Berwickshire moorland and expansive views reaching toward the Cheviot Hills.

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Did You Know?

• •The name 'Law' is a common Lowland Scots term for a prominent, often conical hill, derived from the Old English 'hlāw', meaning a mound or burial hill. 'Dirrington' likely stems from an Old English personal name, marking the hill as part of the territory of 'Deor’s people'.
• •The summit is home to three remarkably large Bronze Age burial cairns; the largest is over 23 metres wide. Archaeological evidence suggests these were constructed using stone specifically quarried from the hilltop rather than gathered from loose surface material.
• •Geologically, the hill is a volcanic laccolith formed of felsite. This hard igneous intrusion resisted the erosion that wore down the surrounding Old Red Sandstone, leaving it standing as a solitary sentinel on the edge of the Merse.
• •The summit provides an excellent vantage point for surveying the Borders, with a particularly clear line of sight to the triple peaks of the Eildon Hills to the southwest and the Lammermuir Plateau to the north.
• •At 399.5 metres, the hill is a mere six inches shy of the 400-metre mark, a geographic near-miss that does absolutely nothing to shorten the final pull through the heather.