LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade
Satellite Imagery
LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade
Satellite Imagery
Scroll left/right to view further images.
HER: Northumberland 3156 (None)
NMR: NU 01 NE 18 (4878)
SM: 1007447
NGR: NU 0959 1611
X: 409583 Y: 616106 (OSGB36)
A possible bivallate hillfort lying at 183m OD on the SW-facing slope of a spur, 400m to the W of Titlington. Steep slopes lie to the S and more gentle slopes to the N and E with higher ground in the W. Bivallate and approximately oval in plan the inner rampart measures 47.5m E-W by 61.5m N-S enclosing 0.21ha. It comprises an earth and stone rampart of between 5-9m wide standing up to 3m high. In the W, separated from the inner rampart by approximately 60m, is a further outer circuit 5m wide and up to 1.5m high. Beyond this is a ditch 3m wide and 0.5m deep. The two ramparts are joined together by a short section of bank which runs NE-SW. Breaks through both ramparts in the NW is possibly an entrance. Stone founded hut circles, possibly indicative of secondary occupation were recorded within the main enclosure and the space between the two banks in the W, but have now been lost. Slight traces of a further bank within the main enclosure was reported during an RCHME field investigation in 1955 but not during more recent interpretations. Currently bracken-covered and lying in a clearing in woodland the site has suffered from ploughing and re-afforestation in the past which has denuded the earthworks. Shown on 1856-65 OS mapping with the outer ramparts destroyed in all but the W by this time. The surviving ramparts can be made out on 2002 Google Earth imagery. The site has not been excavated and remains undated. Scheduled as a defended settlement.
Citizen Science: ✗
Reliability of Data: Confirmed
Reliability of Interpretation: Confirmed
X: -205950 Y: 7447494 (EPSG: 3857)
Longitude: -1.8500817640502798 Latitude: 55.43877609115981 (EPSG:4326)
Country: England
Current County or Unitary Authority: Northumberland
Historic County: Northumberland
Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland: Hedgeley
None
| Extant | ✓ |
| Cropmark | ✗ |
| Likely Destroyed | ✗ |
Surrounding woodland encroaching on outer ramparts in 2013
| Woodland | ✓ |
| Commercial Forestry Plantation | ✗ |
| Parkland | ✗ |
| Pasture (Grazing) | ✗ |
| Arable | ✗ |
| Scrub/Bracken | ✓ |
| Bare Outcrop | ✗ |
| Heather/Moorland | ✗ |
| Heath | ✗ |
| Built-up | ✗ |
| Coastal Grassland | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
A multiple enclosure hillslope fort lying at 183m OD on a S-westerly facing spur. Steep slopes lie to the S and more gentle slopes to the N and E with higher ground in the W.
| 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: South-westerly facing spur
| North | ✗ |
| Northeast | ✗ |
| East | ✗ |
| Southeast | ✗ |
| South | ✗ |
| Southwest | ✓ |
| West | ✗ |
| Northwest | ✗ |
| Level | ✗ |
Altitude: 183.0m
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 secondary occupation; later ploughing and afforestation |
| Morphology/Earthwork/Typology: | None |
Shown on 1856-65 OS mapping, general reference in Hodgson (1924); Field investigations in 1955 and 1970. Scheduled
| 1st Identified Written Reference (1924): | None |
| Other (1955): | Field investigation |
| Other (1967): | Scheduled |
| Other (1970): | Field investigation |
| 1st Identified Map Depiction (None): | None |
Stone founded hut circles, possibly indicative of secondary occupation were recorded within the main enclosure and the space between the two banks in the W
Spring to the N
| 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 | ✗ |
Breaks through both ramparts in the NW is possibly the original entrance.
| 2: | None |
| 2: | None |
Guard Chambers: ✗
Chevaux de Frise: ✗
| 1. Simple Gap (North west): | Inner rampart |
| 1. Simple Gap (North west): | Outer rampart |
Bivallate and approximately oval in plan the inner rampart measures 47.5m E-W by 61.5m N-S enclosing 0.21ha. It comprises a single earth and stone rampart of between 5-9m wide and standing up to 3m high. In the W separated from the inner rampart by approximately 60m is a further outer circuit 5m wide and up to 1.5m high. Beyond this is a ditch 3m wide and 0.5m deep. The two ramparts are joined together by a short section of bank which runs NE-SW
| Area 1: | 0.21ha. |
| Total: | 0.21ha. |
Total Footprint Area: Noneha.
None
| ✓ | Possibly multi-period. RCHME field investigation in 1955 reports a further inner bank, with the enclosure later extended. Settlement within and between the enclosing banks would qualify this as a multiple enclosure fort, although the settlement is probably not contemporary with the hillfort |
| ✓ | None |
| NE Quadrant: | 2 |
| SE Quadrant: | 2 |
| SW Quadrant: | 2 |
| NW Quadrant: | 2 |
| Total: | 2 |
| Partial Univallate | ✗ |
| Univallate | ✗ |
| Partial Bivallate | ✗ |
| Bivallate | ✓ |
| Partial Multivallate | ✗ |
| Multivallate | ✗ |
| Unknown | ✗ |
| Partial Univallate | ✗ |
| Univallate | ✗ |
| Partial Bivallate | ✗ |
| Bivallate | ✗ |
| Partial Multivallate | ✗ |
| Multivallate | ✗ |
Earth and stone banks
| 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 |
| ✓ | Outside the outer bank |
Number of Ditches: 1
| ✗ | 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.
Hodgson, J.C. 1924. Archaeol Aeliana (3rd Series) 21, 1
Jobey, G.1965. Hillforts and Settlements in Northumberland. Archaeol Aeliana (4th Series) 43
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