LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade
Satellite Imagery
LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade
Satellite Imagery
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HER: Northumberland 3834 (None)
NMR: NU 03 NW 17 (6154)
SM: None
NGR: NU 03995 35029
X: 403995 Y: 635029 (OSGB36)
Lying to the S of Holburn Mill Bridge at 85m OD, overlooking the steep sided valley of the Hetton Burn, a multivallate hillfort surviving as cropmarks, recorded on aerial photographs between 1964 and 1995. Four concentric closely-spaced ditches with a separation of between 5-10m form an arc in the S and E. They measure approximately 115m NE-SW by 50m transversely enclosing an area of 0.4ha but possibly continue into woodland in the W. In the N and W the site is naturally defended by steep slopes. The site has been described as a promontory fort (Gates 2003), the ditches do not however cut-off a promontory but appear to terminate on the scarp edge. The innermost ditch on the SE side is broader and the hillfort possibly began as a univallate enclosure (ibid.). Two entrances, both of which are staggered have been observed but their location is unrecorded and could not be seen on available satellite imagery. The hillfort lies 200m to the SE of the possible hillfort Hetton Dean West (Atlas No. 1114) on the opposite side of the Hetton Dean. It is unrecorded on OS mapping and no investigation has taken place, undated.
Citizen Science: ✗
Reliability of Data: Unconfirmed
Reliability of Interpretation: Confirmed
X: -215752 Y: 7480947 (EPSG: 3857)
Longitude: -1.9381365901202694 Latitude: 55.60888615878163 (EPSG:4326)
Country: England; None
Current County or Unitary Authority: Northumberland
Historic County: Northumberland
Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland: Lowick; Chatton
None
| 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 hillslope fort lying at approximately 85m OD on ground trending westwards on a scarp above Hetton Dean.
| 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: Scarp slope above Hetton Dean
| North | ✗ |
| Northeast | ✗ |
| East | ✗ |
| Southeast | ✗ |
| South | ✗ |
| Southwest | ✗ |
| West | ✓ |
| Northwest | ✗ |
| Level | ✗ |
Altitude: 85.0m
Parish boundary between Lowick and Chatton runs through Hetton Dean
Boundary Type: Parish/Townland
The site is 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 |
Recorded in a gazetter of sites in Northumberland (Clack and Gosling 1979). The site has been mapped from the air as part of the Milfield Geoarchaeology Project - Archive objects MD000298 and MD000299
| 1st Identified Written Reference (1979): | None |
| Other (None): | Millfield Geoarchaeology Project |
No recorded features
Lies to the E of the Hetton Burn
| 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 | ✗ |
Entrances are described as staggered but their location is unrecorded and could not be seen on available satellite imagery
| None: | None |
| 2: | None |
Guard Chambers: ✗
Chevaux de Frise: ✗
| 1. Oblique (None): | None |
| 2. Oblique (None): | None |
Four concentric closely-spaced ditches with a separation of between 5-10m form an arc in the S and E. They measure approximately 115m NE-SW by 50m transversely and enclose an area of approximately 0.4ha. In the N and W the site is naturally defended by steep slopes
| Area 1: | 0.4ha. |
| Total: | 0.4ha. |
Total Footprint Area: Noneha.
None
| ✓ | Possibly multi period. It was observed by Gates (2003) that a considerably wider inner ditch and it might have originated as a univallate enclosure |
| ✗ | South and east |
| NE Quadrant: | None |
| 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 | ✓ |
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 |
| ✓ | None |
Number of Ditches: 4
| ✗ | None |
Clack P.A.G. and Gosling P.F. 1975, Archaeology in the North: Gazetteer, NU03NW No.19. (Information via J. St Joseph). 92
Gates 2003. RCHME/EH Aerial Photographers Comment
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