Romano-British farmstead, 850m west of Little Swinburne Reservoir

List Entry Summary

This monument is scheduled under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 as amended as it appears to the Secretary of State to be of national importance. This entry is a copy, the original is held by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

Location

The monument may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.

Legacy System Information

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

Asset Groupings

This list entry does not comprise part of an Asset Grouping. Asset Groupings are not part of the official record but are added later for information.

List entry Description

Summary of Monument

Legacy Record - This information may be included in the List Entry Details.

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.

This farmstead is a well preserved and good example of its type. It is one of a group of similar settlements in this area and will contribute to study of the wider settlement pattern at this period.

History

Legacy Record - This information may be included in the List Entry Details.

Details

The monument includes a farmstead of Romano-British date situated below the crest of a small hill in an area of rough grassland. The rectangular farmstead measures 46m north to south by 40m east to west within a ditch and an external bank. The surrounding ditch varies between 6m and 8m wide and from 0.3m to 0.9m deep below the interior platform. Outside the ditch there is a bank 4m wide and 0.4m high. There are entrances in the centre of the east and west sides with a well preserved causeway across the ditch at the east end. Within the interior the causeway is visible as a raised area between two scooped hollows. There are no visible above-ground traces of internal occupation but the foundations of circular houses will survive beneath ground level. A granite millstone was reported in 1897 as having been found on the enclosure.

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.

Selected Sources

Books and journals
Hodgson, J C, The Victoria History of the County of Northumberland: Volume IV, (1897), 175
Other
No. 5447,

National Grid Reference: NY 93642 77117

Map

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This copy shows the entry on 26-Apr-2018 at 11:58:18.