LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade
Satellite Imagery
LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade
Satellite Imagery
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HER: Northumberland 731 (None)
NMR: NT 83 NE 11 (1109)
SM: 1006523
NGR: NT 88068 35401
X: 388068 Y: 635401 (OSGB36)
At 189m OD, a multivallate hillfort visible as earthworks and cropmarks, lying to the E of West Moneylaws on Castle Hill, Carham. The site is oval in form measuring 110m SW-NE by 55m transversely, enclosing an area of approximately 0.42ha. The ramparts follow the contours around the summit of Castle Hill in all but the SE where the land is almost level and here the hillfort is more heavily defended. The inner rampart appears almost complete with traces of a second rampart in the N and E and two ramparts and three ditches in the S and SE lying concentrically [Description mostly from historic OS mapping and Google Earth imagery]. Captured on aerial photographs, the earthworks now survive mainly as cropmarks. An entrance was recorded in the S of the inner enclosure before damage occurred but is no longer discernible. A further gap has been recorded in the W. No internal features are recorded. The site is overlain by post medieval ridge and furrow and is in poor condition. It was recorded on 1856-65 OS mapping and is scheduled but remains undated.
Citizen Science: ✗
Reliability of Data: Confirmed
Reliability of Interpretation: Confirmed
X: -243898 Y: 7481579 (EPSG: 3857)
Longitude: -2.1909748559031046 Latitude: 55.612095680025426 (EPSG:4326)
Country: England
Current County or Unitary Authority: Northumberland
Historic County: Northumberland
Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland: Carham
Condition poor and variable across the hillfort
| Extant | ✓ |
| Cropmark | ✓ |
| Likely Destroyed | ✗ |
None
| Woodland | ✗ |
| Commercial Forestry Plantation | ✗ |
| Parkland | ✗ |
| Pasture (Grazing) | ✓ |
| Arable | ✗ |
| Scrub/Bracken | ✗ |
| Bare Outcrop | ✗ |
| Heather/Moorland | ✗ |
| Heath | ✗ |
| Built-up | ✗ |
| Coastal Grassland | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
A partial contour fort lying at approximately 189m OD on a north-westerly slope of a spur on Castle Hill, Carham
| 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: North-westerly slope of a spur
| North | ✗ |
| Northeast | ✗ |
| East | ✗ |
| Southeast | ✗ |
| South | ✗ |
| Southwest | ✗ |
| West | ✗ |
| Northwest | ✓ |
| Level | ✗ |
Altitude: 189.0m
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: | Post medieval ridge and furrow ploughing |
| Morphology/Earthwork/Typology: | None |
The site is recorded on 1856-65 OS mapping. Described in MacLauchlan (1919-22), field investigation 1966. Scheduled
| Other (1951): | Scheduled |
| Other (1966): | Field investigation |
| 1st Identified Map Depiction (None): | None |
| 1st Identified Written Reference (None): | None |
No known features. Overridden by narrow straight rig and furrow
None
| None | ✓ |
| Spring | ✗ |
| Stream | ✗ |
| Pool | ✗ |
| Flush | ✗ |
| Well | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
None
| 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 | ✗ |
Entrance recorded in the S of the inner enclosure before damage occurred but is no longer discernible. A further gap has been recorded in the W.
| 2: | Two entrances recorded but it is uncertain if these are original |
| 2: | None |
Guard Chambers: ✗
Chevaux de Frise: ✗
| 1. Simple Gap (South): | Unverified |
| 2. Simple Gap (West): | None |
Oval in form measuring 110m SW to NE by 55m transversely, enclosing an area of 0.42ha. The ramparts followed the contours of the hill in all but the SE where the land is almost level and the hillfort is more heavily defended. The inner rampart appears almost complete with traces of a second rampart in the N and E and two ramparts and three ditches in the S and SE lying concentrically to the inner rampart
| Area 1: | 0.42ha. |
| Total: | 0.42ha. |
Total Footprint Area: 1.8ha.
None
| ✗ | Whole site footprint estimated from 1937-61 OS mapping |
| ✓ | Only the inner enclosure is recorded as complete |
| NE Quadrant: | 2 |
| SE Quadrant: | 3 |
| SW Quadrant: | 3 |
| NW Quadrant: | 1 |
| Total: | 3 |
| Partial Univallate | ✓ |
| Univallate | ✗ |
| Partial Bivallate | ✓ |
| Bivallate | ✗ |
| Partial Multivallate | ✓ |
| Multivallate | ✗ |
| Unknown | ✗ |
| Partial Univallate | ✗ |
| Univallate | ✗ |
| Partial Bivallate | ✗ |
| Bivallate | ✗ |
| Partial Multivallate | ✗ |
| Multivallate | ✗ |
Assumed to be earthen as no stonework is 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 |
| ✓ | In the S and SE |
Number of Ditches: 3
| ✗ | None |
Gates, T. and Deegan, A. 2009. Monuments in the Landscape in Passmore, D.G. and Waddington, C. (eds). Managing Archaeological Landscapes in Northumberland. Till-Tweed Studies, Vol 1. Oxbow, 125-71.
MacLauchlan, H. 1919-22. Notes on camps in the parishes of Branxton, Carham, Ford, Kirknewton and Wooler in Northumberland. Hist Berwickshire Natur Club 24, 462-3
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