Medieval shieling 70m west of Trout Beck

Reasons for Designation

Shielings are small seasonally occupied huts which were built to provide shelter for herdsmen who tended animals grazing summer pasture on upland or marshland. These huts reflect a system called transhumance, whereby stock was moved in spring from lowland pasture around the permanently occupied farms to communal upland grazing during the warmer summer months. Settlement patterns reflecting transhumance are known from the Bronze Age (c.2000-700 BC) onwards. However, the construction of herdsmen's huts in a form distinctive from the normal dwelling houses of farms, only appears from the early medieval period onwards (from AD 450), when the practice of transhumance is also known from documentary sources and, notably, place-name studies. Their construction appears to cease at the end of the 16th century. Shielings vary in size but are commonly small and may occur singly or in groups. They have a simple sub- rectangular or ovoid plan normally defined by drystone walling, although occasional turf-built structures are known, and the huts are sometimes surrounded by a ditch. Most examples have a single undivided interior but two roomed examples are known. Some examples have adjacent ancillary structures, such as pens, and may be associated with a midden. Some are also contained within a small ovoid enclosure. Shielings are reasonably common in the uplands but frequently represent the only evidence for medieval settlement and farming practice here. Those examples which survive well and which help illustrate medieval land use in an area are considered to be nationally important.

The foundations of the shieling 70m west of Trout Beck survive well, allowing its full ground plan to be reconstructed. It is a rare example in Cumbria of a shieling with an associated structure. It will retain further evidence of how the internal space was organised and used. It is one of a group of three shielings in the upper reaches of the Troutbeck valley, each of which has a different ground plan. Together the group provides evidence of the earliest known occupation and exploitation of this part of the Troutbeck valley. Further analysis of the three sites would provide information on any chronological development of the transhumance system to which they relate and also on any differences between the individual sites.

Details

The monument is a medieval shieling located in the upper reaches of the Troutbeck valley 70m west of Trout Beck. It includes a rectangular two-roomed shieling measuring 8.5m by 7.5m externally. The smaller eastern room measures 3.6m by 2.1m internally and has a doorway giving access from the east. The larger room measures 3.6m by 3.1m internally. All walls are of drystone construction and survive up to 0.5m high. On the shieling's north side is a rectangular structure thought to be a store room. It measures 6.3m by 5m externally and is separated from the shieling by a narrow passageway. There is a wide opening in the east side and traces of a doorway on the south side close to the western corner. Its walls survive as granite boulder foundations up to 0.2m high.

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:

23630

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Other
Schofield,A.J., MPP Single Monument Class Descriptions - Shielings, (1989)

End of official list entry

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