Bivallate Defended Settlement WNW of Craghead

The multivallate defended settlement WNW of Craghead is well-preserved and the extent of its upstanding earthworks indicates that it will contain archaeological deposits relating to its construction, use and abandonment. It is a good example of its type and provides insight into settlement and subsistence during the Iron Age.

The monument includes the remains of a defended settlement of Iron Age date, situated on a north east facing slope overlooking the River Coquet. The settlement includes a near circular enclosure with an approximate diameter of 52m. It is surrounded by multiple banks and ditches with triple ramparts around the majority of the enclosure and double ramparts on the north side where the steep slope offers a natural defence. The ramparts are associated with a medial ditch with an extra outer ditch on the south side. The defences are interrupted by an entrance on the south east side. The interior of the enclosure has been partially terraced on the south side and contains at least three hut circles, which vary in diameter from 6m to 8m.

To the SE of Wagtail Farm, a bivallate hillfort of 0.19ha lying at 122m OD on a NE-facing slope towards Craghead. The hillfort is oval measuring 53m N-S by 49m E-W internally. It has commanding views in the N and E with the ground sloping away steeply towards the River Cocquet, but is overlooked in the S and SW by gradually rising ground. Two earth and stone ramparts and unhewn boulders surround the hillfort with a ditch between in the E, S and W providing a whole site footprint of approximately 0.4ha. Where the ground is higher in the S a further outer ditch was created from soil dug out for the rampart. The interior of the hillfort has also been scooped out in the S. A bank, now much reduced, runs across the interior to enclose the scooped area. A simple break cuts through both ramparts in the SE with a causeway between from which a holloway extends south-eastwards towards former field systems in the S and W. Three stone-founded hut circles have been identified within the interior in the SE, W and N between 6m and 8m in diameter, probably representing Romano-British reuse of the site. Damage to the ramparts has occurred in the N through an old fieldbank running approximately E-W cutting through the ramparts. The site is shown on 1856-65 OS mapping. It is scheduled but remains undated. 

Source: Lock, Gary and Ralston, Ian. 2024. Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland. Available at: https://hillforts.arch.ox.ac.uk (CC BY-SA 4.0)