AN APPEAL has been made for help to solve the mystery behind three earthworks shaped like jigsaw puzzle pieces discovered in a Borders woodland.

Forestry and Land Scotland’s (FLS) south region team uncovered a near five-acre structure at the Swinnie plantation close to Jedburgh.

A further two puzzle pieces have been found within the local area, with all three within 5km of each other.

FLS planning forester Tom Harvey 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.

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“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 – which is invisible from ground level – only became apparent with light, detection and ranging analysis.

When the team consulted maps and images held by the National Library of Scotland things became clearer.

The Lidar 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.

Mr Harvey 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.”