LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade
Satellite Imagery
LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade
Satellite Imagery
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HER: Northumberland 10244 (None)
NMR: NZ 07 NE 16 (20738)
SM: 1015517
NGR: NZ 0796 7853
X: 407960 Y: 578530 (OSGB36)
To the NW of Belsay Castle on a spur of Belsay Hill known as Bantam Hill, a promontory fort lying at 152m OD. Measuring 72m E-W by 88m N-S it comprises outer, probably bivallate banks, enclosing 1.75ha and 30m upslope to the E, further bivallate banks enclose an area of 0.47ha. Steep natural slopes lie to the W. The inner rampart survives up to 3.5m high with an entrance which carries a 7m wide raised causeway in the southern angle of the ramparts. An external ditch 1m deep lies at either end of the arc with a counterscarp bank 0.7m high. The double outer ramparts now survive to a height of 0.3m with a medial ditch 0.6m deep. An entrance lies in the SW which aligns with the entrance in the inner rampart. The ramparts are in poor condition and reduced to turf-covered scarps. Quarrying has taken place in the N and NW and some damage has occurred through rig and furrow cultivation. No internal features contemporary with the enclosure have been identified. A possible beacon mound (NZ07NE 30) constructed c. 1552 lies at the highest point within the enclosure. A measured survey was carried out be RCHME in 1986. No excavations are known and the site is undated but its form and location suggest an Iron Age date. Recorded on 1856-65 OS mapping. A number of medieval and post medieval sites lie in the vicinity and are included in the scheduling.
Citizen Science: ✗
Reliability of Data: Confirmed
Reliability of Interpretation: Confirmed
X: -208923 Y: 7381522 (EPSG: 3857)
Longitude: -1.8767836882040738 Latitude: 55.10114992284571 (EPSG:4326)
Country: England
Current County or Unitary Authority: Northumberland
Historic County: Northumberland
Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland: Belsay
In poor condition
| Extant | ✓ |
| Cropmark | ✗ |
| Likely Destroyed | ✗ |
Bordered by encroaching woodland in the N and NW
| Woodland | ✗ |
| Commercial Forestry Plantation | ✗ |
| Parkland | ✗ |
| Pasture (Grazing) | ✓ |
| Arable | ✗ |
| Scrub/Bracken | ✗ |
| Bare Outcrop | ✗ |
| Heather/Moorland | ✗ |
| Heath | ✗ |
| Built-up | ✗ |
| Coastal Grassland | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
An inland promontory fort lying at 152m OD on a SW facing spur
| Contour Fort | ✗ |
| Partial Contour Fort | ✗ |
| Promontory Fort | ✓ |
| Hillslope Fort | ✗ |
| Level Terrain Fort | ✗ |
| Marsh Fort | ✗ |
| Multiple Enclosure Fort | ✗ |
| Hilltop | ✗ |
| Coastal Promontory | ✗ |
| Inland Promontory | ✓ |
| Valley Bottom | ✗ |
| Knoll/Hillock/Outcrop | ✗ |
| Ridge | ✗ |
| Cliff/Plateau-edge/Scarp | ✗ |
| Hillslope | ✗ |
| Lowland | ✗ |
| Spur | ✓ |
Dominant Topographic Feature: Spur
| North | ✗ |
| Northeast | ✗ |
| East | ✗ |
| Southeast | ✗ |
| South | ✗ |
| Southwest | ✗ |
| West | ✓ |
| Northwest | ✗ |
| Level | ✗ |
Altitude: 152.0m
N/A
Undated, presumed Iron Age
Reliability: D - None
| Pre 1200BC | ✗ |
| 1200BC - 800BC | ✗ |
| 800BC - 400BC | ✗ |
| 400BC - AD50 | ✗ |
| AD50 - AD400 | ✗ |
| AD400 - AD 800 | ✗ |
| Post AD800 | ✗ |
| Unknown | ✓ |
| Pre Hillfort: | None |
| Post Hillfort: | Probable beacon mound |
Recorded on 1856-65 OS mapping. General reference in Maclauchan (1864). Field Investigation in 1968. The site underwent a measured survey by RCHME in 1985-6
| 1st Identified Written Reference (1864): | None |
| Other (1935): | Scheduled |
| Other (1968): | Field investigation |
| Earthwork Survey (1985): | Measured Survey |
| 1st Identified Map Depiction (None): | OS one-inch |
No features contemporary with the enclosure are known
Coal Burn lies 145m to the W
| None | ✓ |
| Spring | ✗ |
| Stream | ✗ |
| Pool | ✗ |
| Flush | ✗ |
| Well | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
Possible beacon mound
| No Known Features | ✗ |
| Round Stone Structures | ✗ |
| Rectangular Stone Structures | ✗ |
| Curvilinear Platforms | ✗ |
| Other Roundhouse Evidence | ✗ |
| Pits | ✗ |
| Quarry Hollows | ✗ |
| Other | ✓ |
None
| No Known Excavation | ✓ |
| Pits | ✗ |
| Postholes | ✗ |
| Roundhouses | ✗ |
| Rectangular Structures | ✗ |
| Roads/Tracks | ✗ |
| Quarry Hollows | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
| Nothing Found | ✗ |
None
| No Known Geophysics | ✓ |
| Pits | ✗ |
| Roundhouses | ✗ |
| Rectangular Structures | ✗ |
| Roads/Tracks | ✗ |
| Quarry Hollows | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
| Nothing Found | ✗ |
None
| No Known Finds | ✓ |
| Pottery | ✗ |
| Metal | ✗ |
| Metalworking | ✗ |
| Human Bones | ✗ |
| Animal Bones | ✗ |
| Lithics | ✗ |
| Environmental | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
None
| APs Not Checked | ✓ |
| None | ✗ |
| Roundhouses | ✗ |
| Rectangular Structures | ✗ |
| Pits | ✗ |
| Postholes | ✗ |
| Roads/Tracks | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
The inner rampart has a single entrance in the extreme southern angle of the defences which carries a raised causeway and which aligns with a break in the outer rampart in the SW.
| 2: | None |
| 2: | None |
Guard Chambers: ✗
Chevaux de Frise: ✗
| 1. Simple Gap (South west): | Outer rampart |
| 2. Simple Gap (South): | Inner rampart |
Promontory fort measuring 72m E-W by 88m N-S. It comprises outer, probably bivallate banks, enclosing 1.75ha and 30m further upslope to the E, a second pair of banks enclose an area of 0.47ha. The inner rampart survives up to 3.5m high. An external ditch 1m deep lies at either end of the arc with a counterscarp bank 0.7m high. The double outer ramparts now survive to a height of 0.3m with a medial ditch 0.6m deep. The ramparts are in poor condition and reduced to turf-covered scarps.
| Area 1: | 0.47ha. |
| Area 2: | 1.75ha. |
| Total: | 1.75ha. |
Total Footprint Area: Noneha.
None
| ✗ | Both lines of defence are considered to be contemporary |
| ✗ | None in the W |
| NE Quadrant: | 4 |
| SE Quadrant: | 4 |
| SW Quadrant: | None |
| NW Quadrant: | None |
| Total: | 4 |
| Partial Univallate | ✗ |
| Univallate | ✗ |
| Partial Bivallate | ✗ |
| Bivallate | ✗ |
| Partial Multivallate | ✓ |
| Multivallate | ✗ |
| Unknown | ✗ |
| Partial Univallate | ✗ |
| Univallate | ✗ |
| Partial Bivallate | ✗ |
| Bivallate | ✗ |
| Partial Multivallate | ✗ |
| Multivallate | ✗ |
Described as turf covered, any further construction material is not recorded
| None | ✗ |
| Earthen Bank | ✓ |
| Stone Wall | ✗ |
| Rubble | ✗ |
| Wall-walk | ✗ |
| Evidence of Timber | ✗ |
| Vitrification | ✗ |
| Other Burning | ✗ |
| Palisade | ✗ |
| Counter Scarp Bank | ✓ |
| Berm | ✗ |
| Unfinished | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
None
| None | ✗ |
| Earthen Bank | ✗ |
| Stone Wall | ✗ |
| Murus Duplex | ✗ |
| Timber-framed | ✗ |
| Timber-laced | ✗ |
| Vitrification | ✗ |
| Other Burning | ✗ |
| Palisade | ✗ |
| Counter Scarp Bank | ✗ |
| Berm | ✗ |
| Unfinished | ✗ |
| No Known Excavation | ✓ |
| Other | ✗ |
| ✗ | None |
| ✓ | None |
Number of Ditches: 2
| ✗ | None |
Blood, K., Welfare, H., Sainsbury, I. & Topping, P. 1986. Belsay: A Landscape Survey, Northumberland. RCHME. Unpublished
Maclauchan H. 1864. Memoir written during a survey of the Eastern Branch of the Watling Street, 7-8
Atlas of Hillforts:
Wikidata:
This work is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
and should be cited as:
Lock, Gary and Ralston, Ian. 2024. Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland. Available at: https://hillforts.arch.ox.ac.uk
Document Version 1.1