Gawklands Romano-British farmstead 200m east of Yewtree

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.

Despite the presence of a modern drystone wall along the monument's north side, Gawklands Romano-British farmstead 200m east of Yewtree survives in excellent condition and remains a superb example of this class of monument.

Details

The monument includes the earthworks and buried remains of Gawklands Romano-British farmstead located on sloping ground 200m east of Yewtree. It includes a large sub-circular stone-walled enclosure scooped into the hillside with an additional smaller enclosure and a series of terraces on its west side which are interpreted as originally being for agricultural use. The large sub-circular enclosure measures approximately 70m north-south by 42m east-west and has a main entrance on its west side. It is sub-divided internally; the northern half contains three smaller enclosures while the southern half contains a sunken enclosure interpreted as a stock pen and the remains of two hut circles of differing sizes, the larger measuring about 9m in diameter the smaller 4m in diameter. On the south side of the sub-circular enclosure, and adjacent to the smaller hut circle, there is a second smaller entrance through the enclosure's boundary wall. A trackway leads from the large sub-circular enclosure's main entrance downhill for a short distance. On the north side of this trackway, and attached to the north west corner of the sub-circular enclosure, there is a smaller sub-circular enclosure measuring about 21m in diameter. Immediately west of this smaller enclosure the trackway leads onto a relatively flat hillside terrace and below this there is a second, more sloping terrace. On the south side of the trackway there are two more terraces, the one adjacent to the large sub-circular enclosure being relatively flat, the lower being more sloping. All modern field boundaries are excluded from the scheduling, although the ground beneath them is included.

MAP EXTRACT The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

35032

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Other
SMR No. 2637, Cumbria SMR, Gawklands settlement site, Middleton, (1986)

End of official list entry

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