| Summary : Well-preserved earthwork remains of two enclosures, with a third nearby that is much less well preserved due to the effects of medieval and later ploughing. All are thought to be of Romano-British date on the evidence of their form, and because they overlie presumed prehistoric cultivation terraces (NT 82 NE 115), although there has ever been any excavation to support this. One contains no evidence for contemporary settlement at all, but has an entrance at the E end. The other has an entrance at the NE, contains up to 8 house platforms, with associated yards; there is some evidence for phasing. The third enclosure is probably broadly contemporary, but too little survives as an earthwork to be confident of its form or function. Scheduled. |
More information : (NT 86662909 & NT 86702910) "Votadinian homesteads The westerly one very large and containing huts at East and West ends". (1)
(NT 86642912) Enclosure Elsdon Burn North Village. Lat 55 33' 20" N. Long 2 12' 37" W (These co-ordinates evidently refer to the larger enclosure on the SW ('B' below). (2)
NT 86662919 'A' Simple oval enclosure, 34m x 24m upon a NW facing, bracken covered hillside. It is contained by earth and stone banks, 3-4 metres wide, 0.4 - 1.0 metres high. There is a possible entrance at the East end. There is no definite evidence of internal occupation but fragmentary banks at the West end may be traces of a hut circle. Bracken prevents close investigation. The nearest water supply is a stream 300 metres to the West.
NT 86642912 'B' A large oval shaped enclosure on a bracken covered, NW facing hillside, bounded by an earth and stone bank 3-7 metres wide, except on the SE side which is scooped to a depth of 1 metre. The maximum height of the bank on the northern exterior side is 1.5 metres. A large, wide bank divides the site into two equal sized compartments. The southern compartment contains 6 hut circles adjacent to each other at the SW end. On the NE side of the Northern compartment two 'blister' hut circles, (see sketch plan) lie within the exterior NE bank with entrances onto the outside. There are two possible entrances at the North and North West. The nearest water supply is a stream 300 metres to the West. (3)
Listed as RB enclosed, stone built settlement. (4)
Two oval enclosures. The larger ('B') is a typical "enclosed settlement". The other, with only one possible hut site, is more aptly described as a homestead. Surveyed at 1:2500. (5)
Specialist air photographs taken by A Harding held in the NMRS are an excellent record of the monuments and the agricutural terraces surrounding them. (6)
NT 866292. Settlement N of Ring Chesters camp. Scheduled. (7)
Air photographs taken by Tim Gates at various dates ( 1985; 1987; 1997; 2000) are excellent records of the enclosures and their landscape context. (8)
Between early October and late November 2001, English Heritage carried out a detailed field investigation of Ring Chesters Iron Age hillfort (NT 82 NE 24), together with an area of 24.5ha (60 acres) around it, following a request from the Northumberland National Park (Event record 1300646). This area encompassed the enclosed settlements which are presumably of Romano-British date.
The remains are basically as described by previous sources.
Enclosure A: NT 8665 2918
Enclosure B: NT 8662 2914
As first noted by Source 7, enclosures A and B both overlie earlier cultivation terraces and incorporate them into their perimeters; to the south, the remnant of a smaller enclosure C also survives, centred at NT 8657 2912.
Although the entrance at the E end of A can be confirmed, the 'fragmentary banks' at the W end are probably the remains of a medieval longhouse (NT 82 NE 116). Therefore the function of the enclosure does not seem to have related to settlement at all. However, given that the earlier lynchets lying within the enclosure are well-preserved, it is difficult to envisage the intensive use of the enclosure as a livestock corral.
Enclosure B has been damaged quite significantly by ?C19th improvement ploughing and this has distorted the settlement remains to a greater degree than has been recognised by previous sources. The entrance appears to have been along the upper (SE) edge via a terraced trackway running NE between two of the earlier lynchets. The majority of the circular house platforms are concentrated at the SW end. As recognised by previous sources, the two larger adjoining houses at the NE end appear to overlie the perimeter of the enclosure. At the SW end, it is possible that a group of three structures fronting onto a yard within the enclosure also represent evidence for phasing.
Enclosure C is smaller and apparently more rectangular in plan, although its S end has been almost entirely erased by medieval and later ploughing. As a result its function is difficult to determine. Two possible isolated house platforms lie nearby.
For further information, see the Level 3 report on the field investigation, which includes a full textual description and interpretation of the remains, copies of plans surveyed at various scales, selected photographs and interpretative drawings. The remainder of the archive material is also available through the NMR. (9)
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