Settlement on SE slope of Ewe Hill

Summary

Farmstead, 982m WNW of Ingram Farm.

Reasons for Designation

Farmsteads, normally occupied by only one or two families and comprising small groups of buildings with attached yards, gardens and enclosures, were a characteristic feature of the medieval and post-medieval rural landscape. They occur throughout the country, the intensity of their distribution determined by local topography and the nature of the agricultural system prevalent within the region. In some areas of dispersed settlement they were the predominant settlement form; elsewhere they existed alongside, or were components of, more nucleated settlement patterns. The sites of many farmsteads have been occupied down to the present day but others were abandoned as a result of, for example, declining economic viability, enclosure or emparkment, or epidemics like the Black Death. In the northern border areas, recurring cross-border raids and military activities also disrupted agricultural life and led to abandonments. Farmsteads are a common and long-lived monument type; the archaeological deposits on those which were abandoned are often well-preserved and provide important information on regional and national settlement patterns and farming economies, and on changes in these through time.

The farmstead, 982m WNW of Ingram Farm is well-preserved with partly upstanding walls indicating that the monument will contain archaeological deposits relating to its construction, use and abandonment. The monument provides insight into the character of settlement and subsistence in the later medieval/early post-medieval period. Its significance is increased by its presence within a landscape of densely clustered archaeological monuments including the rich prehistoric landscape of Ingram Farm to the south and Knock Hill and Reaveley Hill to the north and north west. Taken together the monuments within this landscape provide an excellent means to investigate the changing character of settlement and subsistence from prehistory through to the post-medieval period.

History

See Details.

Details

This record was the subject of a minor enhancement on 1 June 2016. This record has been generated from an "old county number" (OCN) scheduling record. These are monuments that were not reviewed under the Monuments Protection Programme and are some of our oldest designation records.

The monument includes the remains of a farmstead and associated garths of medieval or early post-medieval date, situated on the steep south east slopes of Ewe Hill with views of the Breamish valley to the south, south east and west. The central building, oriented east-west, is constructed out of roughly coursed boulders and is rectangular in plan measuring approximately 11m by 4m with a small 4m by 2m annexe attached to the east gable wall. The house is constructed on a level platform terraced into the side of the hill and its walls survive to a height of about 0.7m and a width of approximately 1.4m. To the north and west of the house are four rectangular garths or enclosures ranging in size from 7.8m by 9m to 20m by 22m. The enclosures are surrounded by walls of roughly coursed boulders, which survive to a height of 1.6m. Like the house, the enclosures are terraced into the hill slope with one rising in a series of distinct terraced steps.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

ND 574

Legacy System:

RSM - OCN

Sources

Other
PastScape Monument No:- 5004

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