LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade
Satellite Imagery
LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade
Satellite Imagery
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HER: Northumberland 1738 (None)
NMR: NT 92 SE 26 (3375)
SM: 1014931
NGR: NT 9898 2299
X: 398980 Y: 622990 (OSGB36)
Lying 850m SW of South Middleton, a multivallate hillfort scheduled as a defended settlement. The enclosing works closely follow the natural line of a steep, prominent knoll enclosing 0.4ha and measuring 45m by 65m. It has steep natural slopes in the N, S and E with extensive views in the E. A single enclosing rampart survives up to 1m high and is now widely spread up to 12m. The gentler ground in the W has been scarped to form a further bank with stone revetment and a steep sided outer ditch 9m wide and 3.5m deep. Beyond this is an outer rampart up to 4m wide and up to 1.5m high. In the E there are slight traces of a second bank up to 4m wide and 0.1m high. A field wall crosses the western extent of the hillfort and the ramparts survive well to the W of this. Elsewhere it is considerably reduced by ploughing. Four courtyards levelled into the hilltop have given the interior a slightly dished appearance. The courtyards are defined by low banks and range in size from 10m by 12m to 22m by 25m. It is shown on 1856-65 OS mapping but there have been minimal investigations and it is undated.
Citizen Science: ✗
Reliability of Data: Confirmed
Reliability of Interpretation: Confirmed
X: -224609 Y: 7459659 (EPSG: 3857)
Longitude: -2.017695201437018 Latitude: 55.50072381681713 (EPSG:4326)
Country: England
Current County or Unitary Authority: Northumberland
Historic County: Northumberland
Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland: Ilderton
A field wall cross the western extent of the hillfort and the ramparts survive well to the W of this. Elsewhere it is considerably reduced by ploughing.
| Extant | ✓ |
| Cropmark | ✗ |
| Likely Destroyed | ✗ |
Arable in the past, now pasture
| Woodland | ✗ |
| Commercial Forestry Plantation | ✗ |
| Parkland | ✗ |
| Pasture (Grazing) | ✓ |
| Arable | ✗ |
| Scrub/Bracken | ✗ |
| Bare Outcrop | ✗ |
| Heather/Moorland | ✗ |
| Heath | ✗ |
| Built-up | ✗ |
| Coastal Grassland | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
A contour fort lying on a knoll on the summit of a hill at 230m OD
| 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: Knoll on the summit of a hill. The ground falls away more steeply to the E
| North | ✗ |
| Northeast | ✗ |
| East | ✓ |
| Southeast | ✗ |
| South | ✗ |
| Southwest | ✗ |
| West | ✗ |
| Northwest | ✗ |
| Level | ✗ |
Altitude: 230.0m
N/A
Undated
Reliability: D - None
| Pre 1200BC | ✗ |
| 1200BC - 800BC | ✗ |
| 800BC - 400BC | ✗ |
| 400BC - AD50 | ✗ |
| AD50 - AD400 | ✗ |
| AD400 - AD 800 | ✗ |
| Post AD800 | ✗ |
| Unknown | ✓ |
| Pre Hillfort: | None |
| Post Hillfort: | None |
Shown on 1856-65 OS mapping, General reference in MacLauchlan 1865. Field investigations in 1955, 1969, 1976. Scheduled
| 1st Identified Written Reference (1865): | None |
| Other (1955): | Field investigation |
| Other (1969): | Field investigation |
| Other (1976): | Field investigation |
| Other (1996): | Scheduled |
| 1st Identified Map Depiction (None): | None |
Four courtyards levelled into the interior
Streams lie to the N and S
| None | ✓ |
| Spring | ✗ |
| Stream | ✗ |
| Pool | ✗ |
| Flush | ✗ |
| Well | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
Courtyards
| 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 | ✗ |
None recorded
| None: | None |
| 2: | None |
Guard Chambers: ✗
Chevaux de Frise: ✗
Partially multivallate measuring 45m by 65m enclosing 0.4ha. Naturally defended by steep natural slopes in the N, S and E. A single enclosing rampart survives up to 1m high and is now widely spread up to 12m. The gentler ground in the W has been scarped to form a further bank with stone revetment and a steep sided outer ditch 9m wide and 3.5m deep. Beyond this is an outer rampart up to 4m wide and up to 1.5m high. In the E there are slight traces of a second bank up to 4m wide and 0.1m high. The steepness of the slope in the N probably negated the need for further defences in this area
| Area 1: | 0.4ha. |
| Total: | 0.4ha. |
Total Footprint Area: Noneha.
None
| ✗ | None |
| ✓ | Three ramparts in the W, two in the E |
| NE Quadrant: | 2 |
| SE Quadrant: | 2 |
| SW Quadrant: | 3 |
| NW Quadrant: | 3 |
| Total: | 3 |
| Partial Univallate | ✗ |
| Univallate | ✗ |
| Partial Bivallate | ✓ |
| Bivallate | ✗ |
| Partial Multivallate | ✓ |
| Multivallate | ✗ |
| Unknown | ✗ |
| Partial Univallate | ✗ |
| Univallate | ✗ |
| Partial Bivallate | ✗ |
| Bivallate | ✗ |
| Partial Multivallate | ✗ |
| Multivallate | ✗ |
None
| 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 |
| ✓ | Only in W |
Number of Ditches: 1
| ✗ | None |
Jobey, G.1965. Hillforts and Settlements in Northumberland. Archaeol Aeliana (4th Series) 43. No 33
MacLauchlan, H., 1867. Notes not included in the memoirs already published on Roman roads in Northumberland (London), 43-4.
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