Reasons for Designation
The Pennine uplands of northern England contain a wide variety of prehistoric
remains, including cairns, enclosures, carved rocks, settlements and field
systems. These are evidence of the widespread exploitation of these uplands
throughout later prehistory. During the last millennium BC a variety of
different types of enclosed settlements developed. These include hillforts,
which have substantial earthworks and are usually located on hilltops. Other
types of enclosed settlement of this period are less obviously defensive, as
they have less substantial earthworks and are usually in less prominent
positions. In the Pennines a number of late prehistoric enclosed settlements
survive as upstanding monuments. Where upstanding earthworks survive, the
settlements are between 0.4ha and 10ha in area, and are usually located on
ridges or hillside terraces. The enclosing earthworks are usually slight, most
consisting of a ditch with an internal bank, or with an internal and external
bank, but examples with an internal ditch and with no ditch are known. They
are sub-circular, sub-rectangular, or oval in shape. Few of these enclosed
settlements have been subject to systematic excavation, but they are thought
to date from between the Late Bronze Age to the Romano-British period (c.1000
BC-AD 400). Examples which have been excavated have presented evidence of
settlement. Some appear to have developed from earlier palisaded enclosures.
Unexcavated examples occasionally have levelled areas which may have contained
buildings, but a proportion may have functioned primarily as stock enclosures.
Enclosed settlements are a distinctive feature of the late prehistory of the
Pennine uplands, and are important in illustrating the variety of enclosed
settlement types which developed in many areas of Britain at this time.
Examples where a substantial proportion of the enclosed settlement survives
are considered to be nationally important.
Details
The monument includes a prehistoric enclosed settlement at the east end of a
low ridge 200m NNW of Kirkby Common Farm.
The enclosure is defined by a bank and ditch. This survives best on the south
west and east sides, where the bank is 10m wide and up to 1m high. The ditch
is between 7m and 10m wide and up to 1.5m deep. On the south west side the
ditch has been partly obscured by ploughing. Elsewhere the bank and ditch are
less well-preserved. On the north and north west sides they are visible as a
pronounced lynchet, partly obscured at its western end by the upcast bank from
a modern ditch. On the south east side the line of the ditch and bank is
marked by a slight lynchet. An annexe defined by a bank formerly existed
south of the settlement, and is not included in the scheduling as there is no
evidence that it survives. Excavations across the bank and ditch in 1949
produced pottery reported as Iron Age. Geophysical survey in 1997 revealed
evidence of possible internal features, but failed to show the southern
annexe.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
Legacy System number:
31532
Legacy System:
RSM
Sources
Books and journals Other
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.
End of official list entry
