Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland

EN2036 Springhill, Northumberland

LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade

LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade

Satellite Imagery

Satellite Imagery

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HER:  Northumberland 4131 (None)

NMR:  NU 05 SW 1 (6554)

SM:  None

NGR:  NU 0011 5064

X:  400110  Y:  650640  (OSGB36)

Summary

S of Tweedmouth, close to Spring Hill, an enclosure discovered on aerial photographs by J.K. St.Joseph. It was originally interpreted as a Roman Fort and a possible hillfort. Scheduled as a Roman marching camp. It survives mainly as a cropmark of two concentric ditches over 3m wide separated by a gap of approximately 10m. It is estimated that the site once covered 0.98ha but is now destroyed by a reservoir and road cutting in the W. A trench was excavated in the vicinity of the enclosure in 1946 (Sir W de la Aitchison in 1949) and an 'antonine sherd' recovered. It is not shown on historic OS mapping and is undated but described by Northumberland HER as a Roman village.

Status

Citizen Science:  ✗

Reliability of Data:  Irreconciled issues

Reliability of Interpretation:  Irreconciled issues

Location

X:  -222617  Y:  7508644  (EPSG: 3857)

Longitude:  -1.9998057412372987  Latitude:  55.749171836037775  (EPSG:4326)

Country:  England

Current County or Unitary Authority:  Northumberland

Historic County:  Northumberland

Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland:  Berwick upon Tweed

Monument Condition

Almost destroyed

Condition:
Extant   ✗
Cropmark   ✓
Likely Destroyed   ✓

Land Use

A road cutting and reservoir have destroyed much of the site

Current Use:
Woodland   ✗
Commercial Forestry Plantation   ✗
Parkland   ✗
Pasture (Grazing)   ✗
Arable   ✓
Scrub/Bracken   ✗
Bare Outcrop   ✗
Heather/Moorland   ✗
Heath   ✗
Built-up   ✗
Coastal Grassland   ✗
Other   ✓

Landscape

Hillfort Type

A level terrain fort lying at 83m OD on level ground on the summit of a low rise.

Type:
Contour Fort   ✗
Partial Contour Fort   ✗
Promontory Fort   ✗
Hillslope Fort   ✗
Level Terrain Fort   ✓
Marsh Fort   ✗
Multiple Enclosure Fort   ✗

Topographic Position

Position:
Hilltop   ✓
Coastal Promontory   ✗
Inland Promontory   ✗
Valley Bottom   ✗
Knoll/Hillock/Outcrop   ✗
Ridge   ✗
Cliff/Plateau-edge/Scarp   ✗
Hillslope   ✗
Lowland   ✓
Spur   ✗

Dominant Topographic Feature:  Summit of a low rise

Aspect:
North   ✗
Northeast   ✗
East   ✗
Southeast   ✗
South   ✗
Southwest   ✗
West   ✗
Northwest   ✗
Level   ✓

Altitude:  83.0m

Boundary

N/A


Dating Evidence

Undated, presumed Iron Age

Reliability:  D - None

Principal Activity:
Pre 1200BC   ✗
1200BC - 800BC   ✗
800BC - 400BC   ✗
400BC - AD50   ✗
AD50 - AD400   ✗
AD400 - AD 800   ✗
Post AD800   ✗
Unknown   ✓

Other Activity:
Pre Hillfort:   None
Post Hillfort:   Antonine sherd possibly indicates secondary activity

Evidence:No related records

Investigation History

Oblique aerial photograh, MOA NU 0050/A St Joseph c.1945; excavated in 1946 (Sir W de la Aitchison in 1949); Field investigation in 1967

Investigations:
Other (1945):   Recorded on aerial photograph
Excavation (1946):   Recorded in personal correspondence
Other (1967):   Field investigation

Interior Features

No internal features are recorded. 'Antonine' sherd

Water Source

None

Source:
None   ✓
Spring   ✗
Stream   ✗
Pool   ✗
Flush   ✗
Well   ✗
Other   ✗

Surface

None

Interior Features (Surface):
No Known Features   ✓
Round Stone Structures   ✗
Rectangular Stone Structures   ✗
Curvilinear Platforms   ✗
Other Roundhouse Evidence   ✗
Pits   ✗
Quarry Hollows   ✗
Other   ✗

Excavation

None

Interior Features (Excavation):
No Known Excavation   ✗
Pits   ✗
Postholes   ✗
Roundhouses   ✗
Rectangular Structures   ✗
Roads/Tracks   ✗
Quarry Hollows   ✗
Other   ✗
Nothing Found   ✓

Geophysics

None

Interior Features (Geophysics):
No Known Geophysics   ✓
Pits   ✗
Roundhouses   ✗
Rectangular Structures   ✗
Roads/Tracks   ✗
Quarry Hollows   ✗
Other   ✗
Nothing Found   ✗

Finds

'Antonine' sherd

Interior (Finds):
No Known Finds   ✗
Pottery   ✓
Metal   ✗
Metalworking   ✗
Human Bones   ✗
Animal Bones   ✗
Lithics   ✗
Environmental   ✗
Other   ✗

Aerial

None

Interior Features (Aerial):
APs Not Checked   ✗
None   ✓
Roundhouses   ✗
Rectangular Structures   ✗
Pits   ✗
Postholes   ✗
Roads/Tracks   ✗
Other   ✗

Entrances

None recorded

Total Number of Breaks Through Ramparts:  
0:   None

Number of Possible Original Entrances:  
2:   None

Guard Chambers:  ✗

Chevaux de Frise:  ✗

Entrances:No related records

Enclosing Works

Cropmark of two concentric ditches over 3m wide separated by a gap of approximately 10m. It is estimated that the site once covered 0.98ha

Enclosed Area:
Area 1:   0.98ha.
Total:   0.98ha.

Total Footprint Area:  Noneha.

Ramparts

None

Multi-period Enclosure System:
✗   None

Ramparts Form a Continuous Circuit:
✓   None

Number of Ramparts:  
NE Quadrant:   2
SE Quadrant:   2
SW Quadrant:   2
NW Quadrant:   2
Total:   2

Morphology

Current Morphology:
Partial Univallate   ✗
Univallate   ✗
Partial Bivallate   ✗
Bivallate   ✓
Partial Multivallate   ✗
Multivallate   ✗
Unknown   ✗

Detailed Morphology:
Partial Univallate   ✗
Univallate   ✗
Partial Bivallate   ✗
Bivallate   ✗
Partial Multivallate   ✗
Multivallate   ✗

Surface Evidence

None

Enclosing Works (Surface):
None   ✓
Earthen Bank   ✗
Stone Wall   ✗
Rubble   ✗
Wall-walk   ✗
Evidence of Timber   ✗
Vitrification   ✗
Other Burning   ✗
Palisade   ✗
Counter Scarp Bank   ✗
Berm   ✗
Unfinished   ✗
Other   ✗

Excavated Evidence

No excavation of the ramparts

Enclosing Works (Excavation):
None   ✗
Earthen Bank   ✗
Stone Wall   ✗
Murus Duplex   ✗
Timber-framed   ✗
Timber-laced   ✗
Vitrification   ✗
Other Burning   ✗
Palisade   ✗
Counter Scarp Bank   ✗
Berm   ✗
Unfinished   ✗
No Known Excavation   ✓
Other   ✗

Other

Gang Working:
✗   None

Ditches:
✓   None

Number of Ditches:  2

Annex:
✗   None

References

St. Joseph, J. K. 1951. Air Reconnaissance of North Britain. J Roman Stud 41, 56

St. Joseph, J. K. 1951. Air Reconnaissance in Britain, 1958-1960 J Roman Stud 51, 120



Terms of Use

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


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