More information : SE 535159. A Roman fortlet has been discovered from the
air on the R.Went between the villages of Kirk Smeaton and Norton.(1)
Quadruple ditched enclosure, SE 536158. A strongly defended site
with an innermost ditch sub-rectangular in plan and about 200 feet
across. Further indistinct cropmarks have been seen to the west. (2)
Field walking over the site by Riley revealed nothing but two flints
but it seems reasonable at the moment to assume a Roman date, and
probably a military purpose for the multiple-ditched enclosure. (3)
SE 535158. Little Smeaton, Multivallate enclosure 550 yards (500m) W.
of Norton Mills. Scheduled under 'camps and settlements'. (4)
Visited by R Farrar 2/6/72, who stated that the siting was 'very
much against interpretation as a Roman camp or fort'. (5)
A possibly Iron Age/Roman quadruple-ditched enclosure with annexe enclosure and associated round houses, trackway, field boundary, ditch and pits, is visible as cropmarks on air photographs. There is also a possible prehistoric or Roman barrow with a central pit or inhumation (alternatively this could be another Iron Age/Roman round house with a central post pit). A small quarry of uncertain date cuts one of the field boundaries. These features are centred at SE 5362 1597.
The main enclosure is located at SE 5353 1585. It is formed by four concentric ditches separated by gaps of between 5m and 9m wide. The innermost ditch (2-6m wide) is wider than the three successive outer ditches (1-2m wide). The inner enclosure is sub-square with slightly rounded corners and surrounds an area of 0.4ha (64m x 69m). The outer ditches may have been later additions. This inner ditch has entrances facing north and east. Only the eastern entrance is continued via a corridor through the outer ditches and into an annexe enclosure. The entrance to the north leads into a small square enclosure (9m x 8m). There are no concordant gaps in the outer ditches.
The outermost ditch is not complete to the east where it opens out into an annexe enclosure. Within this annexe and directly in line with the east entrance there is a square feature to that mentioned above. It is 10m x 10m. Again its function is uncertain.
Also in the annexe (at SE 5360 1581) there is a round house formed by a single 2m wide ditch. It has an internal diameter of 10m. This is one of five round houses, the remainder of which are located at (a) SE 5346 1584, (b) SE 5356 1591, (c) SE 5359 1591 and (d) SE 5354 1582. 'a', 'b' and 'c' are situated outside the multiple ditched enclosure, only 'd' is situated within the enclosure. They range between 6m and 11m in diameter. At SE 5350 1599, 81m outside the multi-ditched enclosure (further out than any of the other round houses), there is a possible barrow of prehistoric or Roman date. It is formed by a narrow ditch and has a diameter of 7m. There is a central pit or inhumation. Alternatively these features might be interpreted as another round house and central post pit.
Abutting the main enclosure there are a number of Iron Age or Roman field boundaries and, in alignment with these (north-east/south-west), a double ditched trackway. The trackway runs between SE 5341 1592 and SE 5367 1601.
There is a quarry at SE 5345 1589.
Possibly the field system described here continues further south where other features on a similar alignment have been noted in SE 51 NW 33.
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