Romano-British farmstead on Wood Hill 800m north west of Old Town Cottages

Reasons for Designation

In Cumbria and Northumberland several distinctive types of native settlements dating to the Roman period have been identified. The majority were small, non- defensive, enclosed homesteads or farms. In many areas they were of stone construction, although in the coastal lowlands timber-built variants were also common. In much of Northumberland, especially in the Cheviots, the enclosures were curvilinear in form. Further south a rectangular form was more common. Elsewhere, especially near the Scottish border, another type occurs where the settlement enclosure was `scooped' into the hillslope. Frequently the enclosures reveal a regularity and similarity of internal layout. The standard layout included one or more stone round-houses situated towards the rear of the enclosure, facing the single entranceway. In front of the houses were pathways and small enclosed yards. Homesteads normally had only one or two houses, but larger enclosures could contain as many as six. At some sites the settlement appears to have grown, often with houses spilling out of the main enclosure and clustered around it. At these sites up to 30 houses may be found. In the Cumbrian uplands the settlements were of less regimented form and unenclosed clusters of houses of broadly contemporary date are also known. These homesteads were being constructed and used by non-Roman natives throughout the period of the Roman occupation. Their origins lie in settlement forms developed before the arrival of the Romans. These homesteads are common throughout the uplands where they frequently survive as well-preserved earthworks. In lowland coastal areas they were also originally common, although there they can frequently only be located through aerial photography. All homestead sites which survive substantially intact will normally be identified as nationally important.

The farmstead on Wood Hill 800m north west of Old Town Cottages is well preserved and retains significant archaeological deposits. It is one of a group of similar Romano-British settlements in the area and will contribute to any study of the settlement pattern at this time.

Details

The monument includes the remains of a farmstead of Romano-British date, situated on a level site on the top of Wood Hill commanding extensive views in all directions. The farmstead, sub-rectangular in shape, measures a maximum of 48m north-south by 50m east-west, within a broad ditch up to 6m wide and 1m deep below an inner bank of earth 0.4m high. Outside the ditch there are traces of a counterscarp bank 2m-3m wide and 0.4m high. There is an entrance in the east wall of the enclosure; a second entrance in the centre of the north wall is also considered to be original. Within the farmstead, in the northern half, there are the remains of three circular stone founded houses 6m, 7m and 8m in diameter, the most easterly one of which has a clear entrance in its south east side. Attached to the south side of the enclosure there is a rectangular shaped annexe 45m by 32m bounded by a bank with an outer ditch, within which there is a single circular house 7m in diameter.

MAP EXTRACT The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract. It includes a 2 metre boundary around the archaeological features, considered to be essential for the monument's support and preservation.

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

25097

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Jobey, G, Archaeologia Aeliana 4 ser 38 in Rectlinear Settlements of the Roman Period in Northumberland, (1960), 36

Other
NY 89 SE 27,

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