Cottonshope Head

Cottonshope Head is a remote farm building, located 9½ miles north-west of Otterburn and 3¼ miles north-east of Byrnes. It is situated in the upper valley of Cottonshope Burn. A building at Cottonshope Head was first recorded in Elsdon Parish Registers in the late 17th century.^[1] There are a couple of ruined buildings in the vicinity. Cottonshope Head is in the 1860 Northumberland Farms Index, listed under Rochester township in the ancient parish of Elsdon. Today, Cottonshope is part of Rochester with Byrness Civil Parish. Cottonshope Head can be accessed from Cottonshope Road, a minor road off the A68, with a junction between Cottonshopeburnfoot and Low Byrness. Cottonshope Road runs in a roughly north-easterly direction for 4 miles, connecting with Dere Street (Roman Road). Cottonshope Head is within the MOD training area. A disused quarry here, Cottonshope Head Quarry, is the site of a Lower Carboniferous lava flow, and is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).