Reasons for Designation
Medieval rural settlement in England is marked by great diversity in form,
size and type and the protection of archaeological remains needs to take these
regional differences into account. To do this, England has been divided into
three broad Provinces on the basis of each area's distinctive mixture of
nucleated and dispersed settlements. These can be further divided into sub-
Provinces and local regions, possessing characteristics which have gradually
evolved over the past 1500 years or more.
This monument lies in the Cumbria-Solway sub-Province of the Northern and
Western Province, an area characterised by dispersed hamlets and farmsteads
but with some larger nucleated settlements in well-defined agriculturally
favoured areas, established after the Norman conquest. Traces of seasonal
settlements, or shielings, dominate the high, wet and windy uplands, where
surrounding communities grazed their livestock during the summer months.
The Borders local region comprises the great slope of land between the high
Cheviots and the Solway, where hamlets and scattered farmsteads predominate,
and where bastles and tower houses recall the social conditions of the Anglo-
Scottish borders before the mid-17th century. The eastern part of the region,
containing the wastes of Bewcastle Fells and Spadeadam, can be seen as a
separate subdivision; it was occupied by shieling grounds during the Middle
Ages and the Tudor period, and preserves the remains of associated settlement
sites.
Dollerline medieval dispersed settlement and its associated corn drying kiln
survives well, remains unencumbered by modern development, and will retain
significant archaeological deposits. It is a good example of this class of
monument located in the Border Region and will add greatly to our
understanding of the wider border settlement and economy during the medieval
period.
Details
The monument includes the earthworks and buried remains of Dollerline medieval
dispersed settlement and an associated corn drying kiln. It is located on flat
ground south of Kirk Beck, 250m north of Bush Farm, and includes the
turf covered remains of two houses, a rectangular enclosure, a short length of
wall or earth bank, and a corn drying kiln.
The main house has its long axis aligned approximately east-west and measures
13.7m by 11m with walls 1.3m wide and up to 1m high. It overlies the north
east corner of a rectangular enclosure measuring c.15m by 11m which is bounded
by a low earth bank up to 0.1m high. A short length of wall or bank of the
same height protrudes westwards from the western side of the enclosure.
Immediately to the south of the main house are the remains of a second house
or outbuilding of slighter construction measuring c.12m by 10m externally with
walls 1m wide and up to 0.5m high. North of the main house, and constructed on
the edge of the bluff above Kirk Beck, are the remains of a corn drying kiln
associated with the settlement. It survives as a turf covered oval mound of
stones measuring 6m by 4.5m and up to 0.5m high with a large central hollow
and a splayed stoke hole on its northern side. Its presence indicates the
existence of small scale arable cultivation in the area during the medieval
period. The settlement is depicted on a map dated 1603 accompanying the
Gilsland Survey. In 1832 it was described as ruinous.
A post and wire fence on the monument's eastern side is excluded from the
scheduling, although the ground beneath it is included.
MAP EXTRACT
The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.
