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Goodwife's Hut Romano-British settlement, 310m WNW of South Farm

Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places

Overview

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1013089
Date first listed:: 23-Oct-1977

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Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1013089
Date first listed:: 23-Oct-1977
Date of most recent amendment:: 21-Nov-1994

Location

The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.

District:: Northumberland (Unitary Authority)
Parish:: Birtley
National Grid Reference:: NY 87164 78358

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.

Goodwife's Hut farmstead is reasonably 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 the flat top of a knoll. The farmstead, irregularly shaped, measures a maximum of 70m north west to south east by 104m north to south. The farmstead consists of three contiguous sub rectangular enclosures, each bounded by a bank of stone and earth on average 5m wide and 0.6m high below the external ground level. There is an entrance through the south wall of the southernmost enclosure. Within the farmstead there are the remains of at least two stone-founded circular houses 5m and 10m in diameter. The fence line which crosses the monument at the southern end is excluded from the scheduling but the ground beneath that feature is included.

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:: 25117
Legacy System:: RSM

Sources

Other
NY 87 NE 08,

Legal

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.