LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade
Satellite Imagery
LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade
Satellite Imagery
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HER: Northumberland 637 (None)
NMR: NT 82 NE 73 (908)
SM: 1014497
NGR: NT 8788 2748
X: 387880 Y: 627480 (OSGB36)
Lying on a NW slope to the W of Great Hetha (Atlas No EN0470) a bivallate enclosure of 0.2ha, scheduled as a defended settlement, probably a hillslope fort. It is sited on relatively low lying ground at 194m OD, to the E of Hetha Burn. It is sub-oval in form measuring 105m N-S by 90m transversely. It comprises two 5m wide earth and stone ramparts which today stand up to 1.3m high. On the eastern, uphill side, the ramparts are separated by a medial ditch 4m wide and 0.5m deep. This is absent on the downhill side where the ramparts stand 16m apart and appear to have been scarped. The outer bank stands up to 1.5m above the bottom of the ditch and 1.0m high externally. Entrances lie in the N and S. At the southern entrance, the inner rampart to the W has a circular terminal, possibly the site of a former guardhouse. The entrance to the N is staggered and the outer rampart covers the gap through the inner rampart. To the NE a bank up to 4m wide and 0.5m high surrounds an area of level ground measuring 113m by 40m which is possibly an annex. No internal features have been observed. A number of earthwork tracks, some of which are probably contemporary, lie in the vicinity, one of which runs from the enclosure towards Great Hetha. The site is recorded on 1856-65 OS mapping. No excavation has taken place and the site is undated.
Citizen Science: ✗
Reliability of Data: Confirmed
Reliability of Interpretation: Confirmed
X: -244191 Y: 7467563 (EPSG: 3857)
Longitude: -2.1936088618432334 Latitude: 55.54091736207019 (EPSG:4326)
Country: England; None
Current County or Unitary Authority: Northumberland
Historic County: Northumberland
Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland: Kirknewton; Grey's Forest
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 possible hillslope fort lying on a NW slope at approximately 194m OD close to the valley bottom and marshy ground.
| 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: Hillslope
| North | ✗ |
| Northeast | ✗ |
| East | ✗ |
| Southeast | ✗ |
| South | ✗ |
| Southwest | ✗ |
| West | ✗ |
| Northwest | ✓ |
| Level | ✗ |
Altitude: 194.0m
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 |
General reference in MacLauchlan (1867). Recorded on 1856-65 OS mapping. Field investigations in 1955 and 1969. Scheduled
| 1st Identified Written Reference (1867): | None |
| Other (1956): | Field investigation |
| Other (1969): | Field investigation |
| Other (1969): | Scheduled |
| 1st Identified Map Depiction (None): | None |
No internal features are recorded
Hetha Burn lies directly to the W
| 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 lie in the N and S. At the southern entrance, the inner rampart to the W has a circular terminal, possibly the site of a former guardhouse. The entrance to the N is staggered and the outer rampart covers the gap through the inner rampart.
| 4: | None |
| 2: | None |
Guard Chambers: ✓
Chevaux de Frise: ✗
| 1. Oblique (North): | Inner rampart |
| 1. Oblique (North): | Outer rampart |
| 2. Recesses/Guard Chambers (South): | Inner rampart |
| 2. Simple Gap (South): | Outer rampart |
Bivallate enclosure of 0.2ha, Sub-oval in form measuring 105m N-S by 90m transversely. It comprises two 5m wide earth and stone ramparts which stand up to 1.3m high. On the eastern, uphill side the ramparts are separated by a medial ditch 4m wide and 0.5m deep. The outer bank stands up to 1.5m above the bottom of the ditch and 1.0m high externally. The ditch appears to be absent on the downhill side where the ramparts stand 16m apart and appear to have been scarped.
| Area 1: | 0.2ha. |
| Total: | 0.2ha. |
Total Footprint Area: Noneha.
None
| ✗ | None |
| ✓ | 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 | ✗ |
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: 1
| ✓ | Bank up to 4m wide and 0.5m high surrounds an area of level ground measuring 113m by 40m which is possibly an annex |
MacLauchlan, H. 1867. Notes not included in the memoirs already published on Roman roads in Northumberland (Alnwick), 38-9
Atlas of Hillforts:
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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