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Historic England Research Records

High Knowes A

Hob Uid: 2272
Location :
Northumberland
Alnham
Grid Ref : NT9707012440
Summary : A palisaded settlement of late prehistoric date containing four hut circles, surviving as earthworks.
More information : (NT 97071244) Camp (NR). (1)

A palisaded homestead (High Knowes A) excavated 1962-63 by
Newcastle University. It consists of two circular palisade
trenches 10ft apart enclosing an area 150ft in diameter. The
upcast from the trenches forms a very slight medial mound, and a
break in this and the trenches on the east side marks the
entrance. Internally the sites of four circular wooden built
houses (one fully excavated) are marked by two large
'ring-ditches', and two smaller 'ring-grooves'.There were
no finds. (2)

Surveyed at 1:2500. Only two of the internal huts were
identifiable with certainty at the time of investigation owing
to the coarse tufted grass covering.
Surveyed at 1:10,000. (3)

"A likely byre must be the circular building at Alnham,.....
where the area between rings of roof-suport-posts seems to have
served as a series of compartments, each with a worn floor". (4)

Air photographs (5)

(NT 97071244) Homestead [NR] (6)

NT 972125 & NT 971125 High Knowes palisaded settlement scheduled. (7)

High Knowes A is located on the well drained SW shoulder of High
Knowes, with panoramic views to the NE and E, but more restricted
vistas in other directions. The settlement consists of a roughly
circular double palisaded enclosure containing four timber-built
house foundations, elements of which were excavated in 1962-3 (2).
Of the concentric palisade trenches the inner is marginally larger,
with a maximum width of 1.2m and a depth of 0.3m, and is separated
from the outer trench by a low cambered mound of upcast standing up
to 0.4m higher than the surrounding ground surface. The outer
palisade has a maximum width of 1.0m and a depth of 0.3m. An
entrance through the palisades is situated to the E and is now 4.2m
wide, though when excavated it was roughly 2m wide between terminal
post holes (Authority 2, 15).
Within the interior of the settlement house NT 9712/1/1 was totally
excavated, house NT 9712/1/2 was approximately half revealed, and
house NT 9712/1/3 had one small trench laid out across its perimeter
(see Authority 2 for details). The hut circles survive as
earthworks. (8)

High Knowes A palisaded settlement. Scheduling amended. (9)
Sources :
Source Number : 1
Source :
Source details : OS 6" map 1926
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Source Number : 2
Source :
Source details : Jobey, G and Tait, J 1966 Excavations on palisaded settlements and cairnfields at Alnham, Northumberland Archaeol Aeliana 4th series 44 5-48
Page(s) : May-48
Figs. :
Plates :
Vol(s) : 44
Source Number : 9
Source :
Source details : EH Scheduling amendment, 10-OCT-2001
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Source Number : 3
Source :
Source details : F1 DSmith/31-JUL-1969/OS Archaeology Division Field Investigator
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Source Number : 4
Source :
Source details : Haselgrove, C 1982 Rural Settlement in the Roman North p81
Page(s) : 81
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Source Number : 5
Source :
Source details : RCAHMS NMR Archive Card
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Source Number : 5a
Source :
Source details : APs xs/1039-41 (D Harding 1983)
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Source Number : 5b
Source :
Source details : APs A 4129-43 (D Harding 1982)
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Source Number : 6
Source :
Source details : OS 1:10,000 map 1979
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Source Number : 7
Source :
Source details : Northumberland
Page(s) : 3
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Source Number : 8
Source :
Source details : Peter Topping/16-MAY-1988/RCHME: SE Cheviots Project
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Monument Types:
Monument Period Name : Later Prehistoric
Display Date : Later prehistoric
Monument End Date :
Monument Start Date :
Monument Type : Palisaded Settlement, Hut Circle
Evidence : Earthwork
Components and Objects:
Related Records from other datasets:
External Cross Reference Source : Scheduled Monument Legacy (National No.)
External Cross Reference Number : 32775
External Cross Reference Notes :
External Cross Reference Source : SE Cheviots Project Number
External Cross Reference Number : NT 9712/1
External Cross Reference Notes :
External Cross Reference Source : National Monuments Record Number
External Cross Reference Number : NT 91 SE 11
External Cross Reference Notes :
Related Warden Records :
Associated Monuments :
Relationship type : General association
Associated Monuments :
Relationship type : General association
Associated Monuments :
Relationship type : General association
Associated Monuments :
Relationship type : General association
Related Activities :
Associated Activities :
Activity type : EXCAVATION
Start Date : 1962-01-01
End Date : 1963-12-31
Associated Activities :
Activity type : FIELD OBSERVATION (VISUAL ASSESSMENT)
Start Date : 1969-07-31
End Date : 1969-07-31
Associated Activities :
Activity type : MEASURED SURVEY
Start Date : 1984-03-19
End Date : 1989-07-19