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 enclosure in Burton Bushes is one of a closely associated group of
prehistoric earthworks on Westwood Common, which includes both square and
round barrows, as well as Romano-British enclosures, linear boundary dykes and
a short section of Roman road. The group has survived as part of a rare
landscape characterised by features dating back as far as the Bronze Age,
which has owed its survival to the granting of common grazing rights to the
local people of Beverley in the 14th century AD.
The survival of such an extensive area of prehistoric earthworks is unusual in
this region of East Yorkshire, where arable agricultural practices have
resulted in the destruction of many earthwork remains of monuments above
ground. It offers important insights into ancient land use and territorial
divisions for social, ritual and agricultural purposes in this area, and the
development of these through time.
This small defended settlement dating to the period of the Roman occupation
survives in good condition, and retains a considerable portion of surviving
defensive banks and ditches, enclosing a settlement area within, which will
retain archaeological information relating to the period of its occupation.
Its relationship to another, possibly contemporary, defended settlement, 700m
to the south west on Westwood Common is similarly important for the insights
it offers into territorial divisions during this period.
Details
The monument includes a Romano-British defended enclosure in the wooded area
called Burton Bushes, on the north western edge of Westwood Common, Beverley.
It is one of an important group of prehistoric earthworks surviving together
on Westwood Common, which represents a sizeable area of land in which
prehistoric earthworks have survived because of the establishment of common
grazing rights here in the 14th century AD.
The monument is sub-rectangular in shape, and measures approximately 50m
north-south by 35m east-west. It is defended by an outer bank, which in places
survives up to 1.5m in width and 0.5m height, and an inner ditch between 2m -
3m wide and 0.3m in depth.
MAP EXTRACT
The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.
It includes a 5 metre boundary around the archaeological features,
considered to be essential for the monument's support and preservation.
