Foresters left puzzled after discovering 'jigsaw pieces'

A survey being carried out as part of a land management review at Swinnie plantation, near Jedburgh, revealed an earthwork structure of about two hectares, shaped like a puzzle piece.

A further two have been found, all within five km of each other. Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) officials are now appealing for help after being left stumped by the find. 

Tom Harvey, FLS planning forester, said: “It’s a really odd one. The Swinnie piece is made up of broadleaf woodland species hidden within a crop of spruce trees. 

“The jigsaw piece shape is formed by a ‘woodbank’ – a raised embankment that in the very early days of forest management would define the woodland boundary. 

"There would have likely been a ditch right next to the woodbank that was intended to protect the trees within from browsing damage.

“On top of and all around the woodbank are mature beech trees that are possibly up to 180 years old, so this feature has been in place for a while.”

The puzzle piece shape is invisible from ground level, with the feature just hinted at in regular aerial imagery but only became apparent with LIDAR analysis.

The images – 3D scans obtained by using lasers to ‘see through’ the tree canopy to identify physical features on the ground – clearly showed the woodbank outline. And the Swinnie Forest feature, as well as two others, were marked on old OS maps dating from 1863.  

Tom added: “We haven’t been able to track down any information about who planted these woodlands or why these woodbanks are in such an unusual shape, so we’d love to hear from anyone who can shed some light on this intriguing puzzle.”

Anyone with any information can contact the team at enquiries.south@forestryandland.gov.scot

All LIDAR images and maps reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland