Evaluation of an Earthwork at Norham Castle, Northumberland (original) (raw)
Related papers
Archaeological Fieldwork at Norham and Ladykirk, 2012 - 2015.pdf
Flodden Legends and Legacy: The Findings of the Flodden 500 Projec, 2016
Fieldwork carried out at Ladykirk with the aim of deducing whether the Scottish army of James IV besieged Norham castle from the north side of the Tweed, or crossed the river to besiege it from the English side, has proved inconclusive. Although fieldwalking recovered good quantities of medieval pottery from a field south-east of Ladykirk church - itself reputedly built as a defensible structure by James IV at the turn of the 16th century – no indication of 16th century military activity was found during fieldwork, which included excavations, within and close to Ladykirk village itself. And while some ordnance of the late medieval period was found by metal detecting in fields almost opposite the castle on New Ladykirk grounds, geophysical anomalies explored by excavation there in September 2015 proved to be natural in origin. While inconclusive, the process of carrying out fieldwork at Ladykirk has helped to narrow down options for further enquiry and prompted discussion about the sort of (probably quite ephemeral) remains that would be expected to survive following use of 16th century artillery in the field. In particular, the site of an earthwork of presumed medieval date, overlooking the Tweed just over a kilometre from Norham Castle, is now thought a likely point from which the siege of the castle may have begun, while fording points for the army have been identified at the present bridge and close to the castle itself. Excavations carried out following geophysical survey on the south side of Norham Castle uncovered signs of later medieval and post-medieval activity there, suggesting that all or most of the current large pasture field there functioned, from as early as the 12th or 13th century, as a kind of outer ward of the castle, perhaps brought into use during periods of intense military activity or preparation. Areas of metal-working and, potentially, temporary settlement were identified in the central part of this site while in the west, where a complex of earthworks is visible, a number of military and domestic structures were dated to the 16th century and later, suggesting that the earliest remains were contemporary with the post-Flodden remodelling of the castle as an artillery fortress. The results of excavation at Norham suggest that the reordering of the castle in the wake of Flodden anticipated attack from the west (village) side and support the idea that the large area between the south side of the castle and the Mill burn was used, at various times, as an area for temporary billeting of troops and associated small-scale domestic and industrial activities. Its putative earlier origins as an iron age promontory fort remain unproven.
Landscape History
Wallington in central Northumberland is a late seventeenth-and early eighteenth-century country house with associated pleasure grounds. Much of the surrounding estate is agricultural land, though there are also expanses of moorland and conifer plantation. The character of Wallington's landscape, now divided into fifteen separate farm holdings, was to a large extent shaped by estate management practices and improvements in the eighteenthnineteenth centuries. Today's settlement pattern is made up largely of dispersed farmsteads, with field systems which reflect the orderly rectilinear layout of planned enclosure, being separated mainly by long and fairly straight stonefaced banks. In medieval and early modern times, by contrast, the landscape is thought to have been quite different, with nucleated villages set amidst irregular open fields which were farmed collectively. The process of long-term landscape change from open to enclosed field systems has been inferred across the whole of Northumberland but it can be difficult to understand in detail. Absolute dating evidence for field systems before the eighteenth century is generally lacking and the origins and development of historic earthworks including boundary banks and the remains of arable farming are poorly understood. This paper presents results of research which used retrogressive landscape analysis (based on documentary evidence, archaeological data, aerial photographs, and historic cartography) to identify five areas for detailed geoarchaeological investigation and sampling with optically stimulated luminescence profiling and dating (OSL-PD). The results provide new perspectives on the development of landscape character at Wallington which have wider relevance for northeast England and beyond.
The altered earth: excavations at Hill of Barra, Oldmeldrum, Aberdeenshire
TAFAC, 2012
The RCAHMS survey of Strathdon, Aberdeenshire characterised the various hillforts within the area into six types, on the basis of size and defensive system (RCAHMS 2007), though without any chronological significance. As no intrusive work had been undertaken on the sites it was unclear how the classes related to each other. It should be noted that the term Strathdon does not appear in the final version of the RCAHMS volume, which instead uses the more correct Donside; however, it was used in an earlier draft (Strat Halliday pers comm) which was the inspiration for this programme of research. The Hillforts of Strathdon Project aimed to explore the chronological relationships between the area’s various hillforts (Cook 2010) by undertaking keyhole excavation, with local volunteers on one example from each of the six site types to recover dating evidence from taphonomically secure contexts. The project examined six hillforts over five years (Cook 2010): Bruce’s Camp (NMRS NJ71NE 3; Cook et al forthcoming), Maiden Castle (NMRS NJ62SE2; Cook 2011); Dunnideer (NMRS NJ62NW1; Cook 2010); Hill of Newleslie (NMRS NJ52NE 31), Hill of Barra (NMRS NJ82NW 4; Cook et al 2009) and Cairnmore (NMRS NJ52SW 9; Cook et al 2010). This paper presents an interim account of the third season of the project which examined the multivallate hillfort at Hill of Barra (NGR NJ 8025 2570) and places the results in their immediate context.
Archaeological investigations on the earthwork in Castle Close, Sharnbrook, Bedfordshire, 2013
This report details the project design, results and interpretations of archaeological investigations in August 2013 in the interior of a circular earthwork enclosure, defined on the HER as a medieval moated site, in Castle Close, Sharnbrook, (Beds HER 994 and SAM 20404). The excavation was funded jointly by the Heritage Lottery Fund ‘All Our Stories’ scheme and the Arts and Humanities Research Council R4CH ‘Cambridge Community Heritage’ programme. The Castle Close project was proposed by Sharnbrook Local History Group, and developed with guidance from Access Cambridge Archaeology (University of Cambridge) and English Heritage. The project was conducted as a community excavation, where volunteers undertook excavations under the supervision of archaeologists from Access Cambridge Archaeology (University of Cambridge). Excavation over four days of a 2m2 trench within the circular earthwork exposed a hearth or oven with associated stoke hole and parts of several other features hinting at the presence of one or more built structures, all dated by associated pottery to the 12th century AD. The character of the features appeared to be largely domestic, although some specialisation is indicated and the presence of a sizeable assemblage of horseshoe nails supports the suggestion that the site was moderately high-status. Occupation was short-lived, certainly spanning less than a century and possibly only a decade or so. The date (12th century) and the form (circular and embanked) are both atypical of moated sites and the site is now better defined as a small, late ringwork: it may represent a transitional phase between ringworks and moated sites. Historical records suggest it may have been the documented ‘bury’ of Trikets manor. The likely context for its construction is the Anarchy of the early 12th century and it was probably abandoned after Henry II came to power in 1154 AD. The 2013 excavation in Castle Close has added to the significance of this site by dating this unusual circular earthwork and by identifying it as a ringwork rather than an early moated site. The excavation also gave members of the public living in and around Sharnbrook the chance to take part in archaeological investigations on a site at the centre of their community, during which they developed a wide range of practical and analytical archaeological skills including archaeological excavation, recording, augering and finds processing. The excavation also provided data which will be able to inform and guide future conservation, management, interpretation and presentation of the monument in Castle Close.
Origin of the limestone pedestals at Norber Brow, North Yorkshire, UK: a reassessment and discussion
Cave and Karst Science, 2012
Contrasting rates of limestone dissolution to account for the development of limestone pedestals beneath erratic boulders at Norber, North Yorkshire, have been proposed. Most of these estimates were made prior to reliable dates being available for erratic emplacement and prior to detailed knowledge of the pattern of regional 'post-glacial' climate change. The erratics were deposited c. 18 ka BP, and for a substantial part of the ensuing c. 4 ka a climate of Arctic severity prevailed until the abrupt warming at 14.7 ka BP, marking the onset of the Lateglacial Interstadial. We propose that nivation (snowrelated) processes operated for much of that time, and again during the Younger Dryas Stadial (12.9 -11.7 ka BP), and made a contribution to the lowering of the limestone surface by both mechanical and chemical action. Similar processes are likely to have operated for short periods on several occasions during the Holocene when, according to proxy records, climate deteriorated. We question previous views that dissolution occurred in an entirely temperate sub-regolith environment and/or was achieved solely by rainfall.
Castle Hill and its Landscape; Archaeological Investigations at the Wittenhams, Oxfordshire
2010
This volume describes the results of archaeological investigations carried out between 2003 and 2006 on behalf of the Northmoor Trust in the parishes of Little Wittenham and Long Wittenham, Oxfordshire. The work included examination of cropmarks, large-scale geophysical surveys, fieldwalking and excavations. Geophysical survey was concentrated in and around the scheduled hillfort at Castle Hill, Little Wittenham (Oxfordshire SAM No. 208), and revealed a smaller enclosure within the hillfort dated by excavation to the late Bronze Age.The survey also suggested that otherwise archaeological features within the hillfort were relatively sparse. A section across the hillfort ditch and rampart did not produce a clear construction date, though in the interior both early and middle Iron Age pits were found, some containing human burials or bones. The hillfort ditch appears to have been cleaned out throughout the Iron Age, the spoil probably used to enhance the outer bank. The hillfort was also used in the late Roman period (4th century AD), when very large rectangular pits were dug, and midden material was piled up behind and over the Iron Age rampart. People were also buried in the interior at this time. Saxon finds were very few, but a medieval pit and a quarry indicate occupation in the 12th/13th centuries AD. Coring of peat deposits beside the Thames north of Castle Hill provided evidence of the environmental succession from the early Iron Age onwards. On the plateau below the hillfort cropmarks and geophysical survey revealed a dense settlement stretching west, to Hill Farm and beyond. This included a late Bronze Age and early Iron Age midden some 50 m across, a middle Iron Age curving boundary ditch down the middle with smaller sub-rectangular enclosures either side, and early and middle Iron Age penannular enclosures, four-post structures and pits. Settlement seems to have shifted southwards and westwards in the middle Iron Age, and late Iron Age or early Roman ditches were also found near to Hill Farm. The Roman settlement was mainly 2nd–3rd century AD, and probably consisted of four enclosures, one of which contained a masonry building (now largely destroyed) with a tiled roof, decorated with mosaic tesserae and painted wall plaster. This enclosure was approached by a ditched trackway, with a second larger enclosure alongside. A third enclosure was partly revealed north of Hill Farm, and a fourth enclosure (not investigated) lay alongside Roman field boundaries west of Hill Farm. Despite earlier finds at Hill Farm, no Saxon evidence was found in these excavations. The project has revealed a unique combination of late Bronze Age hilltop enclosure, external settlement and an adjacent midden. In the early Iron Age the hilltop enclosure was replaced by the hillfort, where feasting occurred, while the adjacent settlement around the midden grew to be one of the largest in the region.The midden was abandoned in the middle Iron Age, and a long boundary ditch may have divided this ancestral area off from settlement to the south and west. There was also more middle Iron Age activity within the hillfort, including a number of human burials. In the Roman period the settlement probably included a small villa, while the hillfort itself was probably reoccupied in the later 4th century AD. Intriguingly both Roman cremations and inhumations were buried around and within the hillfort, suggesting a continuity of burial location spanning 1000 years. Geophysical survey and evaluation trenches were also dug across a cropmark complex at Neptune Wood east of Long Wittenham, revealing an early Iron Age enclosure ditch, a Roman trackway and associated fields, and a pair of large middle Saxon pits or waterholes.