Halidon Hill Iron Age Settlement

The defended settlement by the summit of Halidon Hill is preserved as a cropmark and in places as a low earthwork. The analysis of aerial photography has indicated that the monument will contain archaeological deposits within features such as ditches and any remnant ramparts, which will provide insight into the monument construction, use and abandonment and environmental deposits relating to the use of the surrounding landscape. The monument provides insight into the character of fortification, settlement and subsistence during the Iron Age. Its presence within a medieval Registered Battlefield provides insight into changes in warfare between the Iron Age and the medieval periods and its value is further enhanced by its lying in close proximity to another similarly dated defended settlement located 660m to the east.

The monument includes the remains of a defended settlement of Iron Age date, situated on a south facing slope just off the summit of Halidon Hill. The enclosure is sub-oval in plan measuring 69m by 47m and is surrounded by a single bank with an inner and outer ditch, all of which are preserved as cropmarks and in places as very low earthworks. The defences of the enclosure are interrupted by entrances on the south east and south west sides.

The monument lies within the Battle of Halidon Hill Registered Battlefield and 660m west of a second Iron Age defended settlement that is also on Halidon Hill but is the subject of a separate scheduling.

Lying at 152m OD on the S-facing slope of Halidon Hill, the cropmarks of an oval enclosure, possibly a hillfort. Trackways, a prehistoric pit alignment and ditch have also been recorded. The cropmark measures 69m by 47m enclosing an area of 0.26ha, interpreted as two ditches with a medial bank. Entrances lie in the SE and SW with trackways running from them. A short section of a pit alignment lies to the N of the enclosure. An OS field visit in 1967 confirmed that no above ground features had survived. The site was scheduled in 1987 as Halidon Hill Settlement but later described by the NMR as a possible hillfort. It does not appear on any OS mapping and no further investigation has been carried out and it remains undated. The site is shown as Hallydown Hill on Andrew and Mostyn Armstrong's Map of the County of Berwick (1771). The location is better known for the Battle of Halidon Hill in 1333.

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)