Defended settlement, SW of Nesbit, Northumberland

Defended settlements are a rare monument type. They were an important element of the later prehistoric settlement pattern of the northern uplands and are important for any study of the developing use of fortified settlements during this period. All well-preserved examples are believed to be of national importance. Despite the fact that it has been subject to cultivation, the defended settlement south west of Nesbit retains significant archaeological deposits which will survive within below ground features such as ditches and any internal features such as pits. The monument provides insight into its construction use and abandonment and more widely into the character of settlement and subsistence during the Iron Age.

The monument includes the buried remains of an Iron Age multivallate defended settlement situated near the crest of a low spur overlooking the floodplain of the River Till to the south west. The sub-circular enclosure, which is visible on aerial photographs as a cropmark, is surrounded by three, and in places four, roughly concentric ditches that are interrupted by entrances on the north west and east sides. On the west side of the enclosure the third most outer ditch bulges outwards to create an annexe, with an area of 0.25ha., which is strengthened by the addition of a fourth ditch. Overall the monument covers an area of about 1ha. The metalled surface of the track which crosses the monument is excluded from the scheduling, although the ground beneath it is included.