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Castle Hill Haltwhistle

11/3/2026

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Castle Hill, Haltwhistle, Northumberland.

Location: NY 7114 6416
"Castle Hill is a prominent, probably natural mound located towards the eastern end of Haltwhistle and a little way to the west of the steeply incised Haltwhistle Burn. It has long been considered a motte (Hodgson 1840, 117-18; Hunter Blair 1944, 164; Long 1967, 114). The western side of the mound certainly appears to have been artificially scarped and it is topped with a bank between 0.9m and 1.2m in height which today survives around the north and east sides.

This would seem, morphologically, to make it a ringwork rather than a motte. Despite much conjecture, little has been determined about the detailed chronology of these earthworks, and the mound is, today, quite severely impacted by development.

An archaeological watching brief carried out in 1992 when foundations were dug for an extension to Brae Bonny House, which lies against the mound, recovered one sherd of green-glazed pottery. The monitoring archaeologist concluded that the site had been levelled at some previous date and also established that an earlier extension of an adjacent house had required excavation deep into the mound, revealing 'several layers of stratigraphy'.

Hodgson conjectured that Castle Hill was the site of the medieval court for South Tynedale, as Wark-on-Tyne was for North Tynedale (1840, 119), but this does not appear to be supported by any documentary evidence, which is relatively plentiful for the role of Wark in this function. Indeed, in 1290, an inquiry into the death of a man in Haltwhistle resulting from a quarrel in the town was heard at Wark before the Bailiffs of Tynedale (Polson 1902, 74), presumably meaning that there was no court at Haltwhistle to carry out this function. (Northumberland Extensive Urban Survey)

Probable early Norman ringwork castle partially surviving as an earthwork."

Gatehouse: 2582 

Castle Hill possible motte and bailey (Haltwhistle)

[NY 71126416] Camp. (1)

Castle Hill is a natural mound cut off to the north east by the Haltwhistle Burn glen. Its west end has been scarped and a breastwork 3-4ft high added, which continues on the north and east sides. The probable site of a motte and bailey. See illustration card. (2)(3)

Published survey (25 inch) revised. Modern development has destroyed much of this earthwork, but a substantial earthen bank remains on the east side. No trace of a motte survives, and it is doubtful if one existed, the remains being more likely those of a simple breastwork around the summit of the hill. See AO/56/363/8. (4)

Haltwhistle Burn. Castle Hill once used as a motte and bailey castle. Traces of scarping and an earthen mound or wall can be seen. (5)

Watching brief carried out when foundations for an extension to Brae Bonny house were dug in August 1992 (application 92/E/13). The site appeared to have been levelled in the past and only one sherd of green glazed pottery was found. Inspection of the adjacent house revealed that an extension had been erected some time in the past and that it had gone deep into the hill. Several layers of stratigraphy had been evident. (6)

Castle Hill. (7)

Name of Haltwhistle owes its origin to the oval shaped mound called Castle Hill, which was once fortified with earthworks. (8)

Castle Hill was at some remote period defended by a system of earthworks. The base of the hill was formerly swept on the south side by the South Tyne; but the river has altered its course and does not now approach within some distance of the mound. (9)

The feature described above was obscurred by trees on all air photographs available to the Hadrian's Wall NMP project, so no determination of the survival or function of the features could be made. (10a)

Keys to the Past: N6684
Classified as Earthwork Enclosure by Cathcart-King (1983, 3340).
Picture
Haltwhistle from the east. Photo A Curtis (2015).
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Dally Castle

5/3/2026

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Picture
LIDAR (DSM, 1m) copyright Environment Agency (2022) - enhanced for archaeology.
Geograph - Dally Castle


Dally Castle, Tarset, Northumberland.

Location: NY 7748 8438
Picture
Contour models from lidar

Shown below are contours created in QGIS at 1m interval from the dtm lidar, overlaid on the multi-hillshaded dsm lidar.

Below that are two profiles created by the profile tool in QGIS.

The first, in the direction NW-SE, shows the deep ditch dug across the ridge cutting off the site of the castle from the ridge to the west. It seems to suggest that material from the ditch was used to increase the height of the castle mound.

The second profile from NE-SW across the castle mound shows the ditch with outer rampart on the N side of the castle and the steep slope to the S into the flat haugh-land above the Chirdon Burn..
The remains of a fortified house, later remodelled as a tower house, of medieval date, situated on the summit of a ridge within a meander of the Chirdon Burn. The upstanding remains are Listed Grade I. The site of the fortified house has been isolated by the digging of a substantial ditch, 25m wide and a maximum of 4.5m deep, across the north western part of the ridge, and by a less substantial ditch
across the south eastern side. Natural protection is afforded on the north east and south western sides by steep slopes. The fortified house, which is situated between the two ditches, is visible as a rectangular structure measuring 20.9m north west to south east by 11.8m north east to south west, with walls of regular sandstone blocks 1.8m thick. This building is thought to be early 13th century in date and its basic plan is an upper floor hall house above a columned basement.

Each of the long side walls had three regularly spaced arrow loops, or narrow windows, and each of the end walls had one loop placed centrally. All of the windows were blocked soon after building and in the south west corner of the
house two of the windows have been obscured by an internal cupboard and a fireplace. The most westerly window in the south wall was subsequently replaced by a larger window, still clearly visible.

In the later 13th and 14th century the house was remodelled into a tower house and a number of features were added; these include a square tower at the north west corner, a tower at the north east corner, a pair of butresses on the north wall and a small tower at the south west corner. It is also thought that an entire storey was added.

A pair of buttresses added to the south wall of the house are thought to be an even later addition. The original entrance to the house is thought to have lain in the eastern end of the south wall, although there i s now only a gap in the masonry.

The foundations of a rectangular building, orientated east to west and measuring 9m by 6.4m, are located 10m east of the house. The building is thought to be the remains of an associated chapel. Further to the east of the house, on the eastern side of the smaller ditch, there are further slight foundations of a small building 3m square.

Dally Castle is believed to be the building erected by David Linsey in his manor of Chirdon, referred to in a document of 1237 as the `house with remarkably thick walls in the form of a tower'. The manor was confiscated on two occasions in 1289 and 1296. On the second occasion it was granted to John de Swinburne, reverting to the Crown on his death in 1326 when it was described as ‘the site of a manor burnt by the Scots'.

The fortified house is not mentioned in the 1415 or the 1541 lists of Border strongholds but it is known that by 1604 it was held of the Crown and occupied by the Dodds family. The condition of the house deteriorated; by the 18th century it was roofless and in the early 19th century little stonework was visible.

The building underwent limited excavation in 1888 when a series of columns forming part of the basement were removed. The work also uncovered a helmet and part of a sword. After substantial consolidation in the late 20th century, the walls are visible standing to a maximum height of 1.8m. Further columns and other architectural fragments were also uncovered and remain at the site. [NHLE].
Scheduled Monument List Entry Number: 1018537

Listed Building (Grade I): 1044856

Keys to the Past: N7045

Tarset Archive Group: Dally Castle A0284

Gatehouse - Dally Castle

Wikipedia - Dally Castle
Picture
History of Northumberland, Volume 14, p.274. Published 1940.
Picture
Dally Castle notice-board. Historic England.

Drone photos courtesy of Richard Carlton (April 2019)

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Tarset Castle

4/3/2026

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Picture
LIDAR (DSM, 1m) copyright Environment Agency (2022) - enhanced for archaeology.
Tarset Castle, Northumberland.

Site of 13th Century fortified house known as Tarset Castle.

Location: NY 7883 8549


The remains of the castle are situated upon a steep-sided promontory which points westwards and which commands the valley of the Tarset Burn to the north, and the valley of the River North Tyne to the west, south and east. The promontory is cut off from the rising ground to the east by a broad deep ditch, 22m wide, and of an average depth of 5m. The southern end of this ditch has been destroyed by the construction of a railway cutting.

Upon the east side of the site, are foundations of a building, of which the south end and north east corner are exposed, and stand to a maximum height of 1.5m. The rest of the site has been subjected to ravaging for stone and is covered with pits and spoil heaps, now turf covered.
Picture
OS 25" (1897). National Library of Scotland.
Picture
Lidar (dsm, 1m) showing approximate location of the three photos above.
"The monument includes the remains of the fortified residence known as Tarset Castle, situated upon a steep sided promontory commanding the valley of the Tarset Burn to the north and the North Tyne to the west, south and east. Theprom ontory is surrounded by a substantial artificially dug ditch on the east and south sides 20m wide and on average 5m deep. The remaining two sides are bounded by steep banks which have the appearance of having been artificially scarped for added defence. The fortified house occupies the eastern half of the promontory and is largely visible as the grassed over remains of a rectangular structure, oriented north to south. Standing masonry is visible to a maximum height of 1.5m at the north east and the south east corners of the structure standing upon the uncovered remains of a stone plinth. This masonry is thought to represent two of the four square corner turrets known to exist at Tarset Castle. A sketch of the house in 1773 shows it to be a long narrow rectangular building with square turrets at each of the four corners surrounded by a stone wall of the same shape."

Scheduled Monument: 1015528 
Keys to the Past: N6995
Picture
Bing maps (satellite) - 2026.
Tarset Archive Group - Tarset Castle: A0004 
Tarset Archive Group - Tarset Castle Exhibition
Tarset Archive Group - Tarset Castle Heritage at Risk 

Gatehouse record: 2832

Carlton, R. J. (2004). Tarset and Greenhaugh, Northumberland; An Archaeological and Historical Study of Two Border Communities.
The Archaeological Practice, Newcastle upon Tyne.


Geograph (snippet): 25590

Picture
Tarset Castle. Artist's impression from Tarset Archive Group Exhibition.
The castle’s history has traditionally been assumed to have begun in 1267 when a detailed licence to crenelate was issued to John Comyn but there is some evidence for an earlier foundation in 1244.

"The apparent problem posed by the apparently conflicting records is easily resolved if it is assumed that the earlier record refers to an earth and timber ‘ringwork’ castle probably constructed by Richard Comyn when the family first acquired the manor in the 12th century.

Ringworks, which simply comprise a massively ditched and embanked enclosure, are more common in North Tynedale and Redesdale than the better known type of motte-and-bailey castles, with both the Mote Hill at Wark and Warden Castle adopting this form. Even the earthwork castle at Elsdon - traditionally thought of as a motte-and-bailey - has been re-evaluated more recently and shown to be a ringwork and bailey
."
R. Carlton (2004).
Not long after first posting this blog I chanced on this which really gets me wondering: The Myth of the Motte and Bailey Castle in Scotland by Simon Forder (2014).

Contour models from lidar

The great thing about lidar is it enables us to create contours and examine profiles across a site. This helps us understand how the natural geomorphology was used in the selection of  a defensive site and the alterations made in its construction. Shown below are contours created in QGIS at 1m interval from the dtm lidar, overlaid on the multi-hillshaded dsm lidar.

Below that are two profiles created by the profile tool in QGIS in directions N-S and W-E across the castle mound and surrounding structures. The nearby farm buildings, disused railway cutting, viaduct, and roads remind us that modern changes to the landscape are often superimposed on what has gone before. The major landslip on the N slope, which rises 17m on the left bank of the Tarset Burn, is clearly visible in the lidar. It took place around 1862-1895 and remains unstable, placing the remains of Tarset Castle at further risk.
Picture
Tarset Castle from south. 3D lidar landscape.
3D lidar landscape 3D model on sketchfab:
https://skfb.ly/pH6tI

Drone photos of Tarset Castle in amazing light courtesy of Richard Carlton (April 2019)

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Cropmark at Hepscott Manor Farm

27/2/2026

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This blog post was triggered by a post on the Lidar & Aerial Archaeology facebook group by John Rowley on 24th February 2026.

The post was regarding a feature of two neat concentric circles recorded from a crop-mark on Hepscott Manor farm, near Morpeth, Northumberland, from a 1958 aerial photograph by Historic England Aerial Mapping Explorer.
Picture
Historic England Aerial Mapping Explorer (accessed 27/02/2026).
Historic Environment Record No: N11704
Historic England Monument No: NONE GIVEN
Date: NEOLITHIC\BRONZE AGE
Interpretation: HENGE\CIRCULAR ENCLOSURE
Seen as: CROPMARK
Source: HISTORIC ENGLAND ARCHIVE RAF/543/318 F22 360 08-JUL-1958

Keys to the Past: N11704
"A circular cropmark on an aerial photograph can be seen, but its date and function is unknown. However, the circular cropmark could also be a modern feature; only further investigation will throw some light on this site."

This record informs us that it was recorded by Historic England as part of the AERIAL INVESTIGATION AND MAPPING, South East Northumberland Extension Project.

Deegan, A. (2022). South East Northumberland Air Photo and Lidar Mapping Project. Leeds: Alison Deegan Air Photo Interpretation and Mapping.

The location of the circular enclosure is: NZ 2144 8315

Clearly HE had some doubt about its age and original purpose and seemed to me a sensible cautious interpretation.

The feature is not visible as an earthwork on LIDAR. However, examination of historic satellite imagery on Google Earth showed that the cropmarks were faintly visible in several years: December 2002, May 2018 and May 2020. The circles lie just east of an old field boundary (shown on early OS maps).

Google Earth 12-2002
Google Earth 5-2018
GE 05-2020 false colour
GE 05-2020 false colour
It just seems too neat to be anything prehistoric but if modern, what could it have been?

Some research led me to post the following comment:

"Agree its quite hard to see on Google Earth but it does look overly neat for something prehistoric. There was a small airfield at Hepscott Manor used in 1933. Wonder if that could be associated?

HEPSCOTT MANOR: Temporary aerodrome
Operated by: Sir Alan Cobham's National Aviation Day No.2 Tour' Period of operation: 28th July 1933
https://www.ukairfieldguide.net/airfields/Hepscott-Manor
Thinking that it could have been a temporary marker of some kind for the 1933 air-show I thought, if that, it would have been carerfully measured for the event. Although not easy to measure precisely on the GE satellite images, some experiments suggest they may originally have been circles of 400 feet and 200 feet in diameter. If so, that could well support the idea that they were originally an aerial marker.

There is also nothing to suggest some kind of WW2 activity in the area such as a searchlight, anti-aircraft or radar installation on the Defence of Britain interactive map. 
GE May 2018 measurement of outer circle.
GE May 2018 (false colour) measurement of outer circle.
Looking at old maps shows that the N-S field boundary along the SW edge of the outer circle was removed relatively recently. The older boundary which joined that and crossed the enclosure from SW-NE is shown on the 1st edition OS (c.1860) but appears to have been removed by the 2nd edition (c1900).
Picture
1st Edition OS 6" map (c.1860) National Library of Scotland.
The images and notes shown below were copied from the UK Airfield Guide for Hescott Manor (originally provided by Michael T Holder).
NOTES:  In the first map above Mike has given us two options for the possible field used. However, judging from very many other examples, the field nearest to the main road was always the preferred option - and this is shown in the Google Street View picture above. This said, it largely depended on what crops the farmer intended to sow that year, and if this preferred field was needed for turnips or carrots, (for example), they had to lump it. Which of course is fair enough.

Perhaps still worth mentioning, as so often mentioned in this 'Guide', even if only used for one or two days, the field used as a temporary aerodrome suitable for an air display with a large crowd expected, it had to be officially licensed as an aerodrome. Indeed, in the early days after an application for use was made, a couple of men from the Ministry would arrive to conduct a site survey. Sometimes they would impose restrictions, depending on aircraft type, as to what landing and take-off directions could be used.

An online exhibition at the RAF Museum provides much information about the life of Alan Cobham. See also this short clip on Pathe News which also has an clip of the Irish Aviation Day. There is also much more information about Cobham's Air Circus on A Fleeting Peace.
Picture
Sir Alan Cobham National Aviation Day (RAF Museum).
The National Aviation Day campaign, known as ‘Cobham’s Flying Circus’, toured Great Britain, Ireland and South Africa, between 1932 and 1937, giving many their first experience of flight.

Cobham’s Flying Circus toured between 1932 and 1935 taking 990,000 people on flights in his fleet of aeroplanes with over 3,000,000 people visiting the display.

Several events at the air-show may have needed a large marker visible from the air: flour bombing competition, helicopter landing, marker for the air race or parachute landing.

I am aware that this is a very speculative post. The measurement of the circles, although prone to some error, seems, along with their neat appearance, to support a modern origin. Whether it can really be linked to Cobham's Flying Circus I can't of course be sure. The relationship of the concentric circles to the now removed field boundaries is also uncertain in my opinion.

A prehistoric henge from the Neolithic. or double ditched enclosure from Bronze or Iron Ages, is always a nice find, but so in my mind is a physical link to the exciting world of the 1930 aerial extravaganza that was Cobham's Flying Circus.

Unless there is more investigation here, and even then, we'll probably never know which is true.

 Alison Deegan. When You Have Eliminated the Impossible...
AARGnews, 72, April 2026, p.38-40.

Alison uses the above example in an article about the difficulty and hazards of interpretation of lidar and aerial imagery with regard to her discovery of an unusual site above the Lune valley on the western edge of the Howgill Fells of  Westmorland:

She describes:
A tiny cluster of at least 15 small circular platforms were discovered on lidar imagery of the open moorland in the north of England. Without the benefit of ground investigation, the working hypothesis is that they are platforms or stances
for timber houses, possibly Bronze Age. However, unenclosed platform settlements are very scarce in the north of England, so could there be an alternative explanation?


Below are my lidar images made from DSM using Prismatic Openness and VAT blends provided by the RVT Plug-in for QGIS.The third image is VAT overlaid with contours at 5m.

And, no, I have no idea what the circular features scooped into the hillside might be. I always find I look for alternative explanations (in this case geology and glaciation) but in that way you can also miss the archaeology.
I also uploaded a 3D Lidar Landscape model here:
https://skfb.ly/pJvNr
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Barcombe Hill above Vindolanda Roman Fort

22/2/2026

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Iron Age hillfort & Roman Signal Station on Barcombe Hill above Vindolanda Roman Fort, Northumberland.

Location: 
NY 7830 6681

Keys to the Past: N6569


Scheduled Monument: 1018536
Picture
LIDAR (DSM, 1m) copyright Environment Agency (2022) - enhanced for archaeology.
Picture
View of Vindolanda Roman Fort from Roman Signal Station on Barcombe Hill. 3D model from lidar data.
3D LiDAR landscape on Sketchfab: https://skfb.ly/pGKN9
Picture
Site of Roman Signal Station, Barcombe The ditch here, parallel with the escarpment edge, is the north side of a prehistoric defended settlement, thought to be Iron Age in date, probably extended by later Roman quarrying for stone. Within the enclosure, the Romans constructed a Signal Station providing inter-visibility north to Hadrian's Wall and west to Vindolanda Fort NY7866 : View west from site of Roman Signal Station, Barcombe. However, excavation showed that it may have only been in use for a short period during the later first century AD. LinkExternal link (Archive LinkExternal link ) A rectangular ditch with rounded corners around the mound in the north-west part of the larger enclosure is clearly visible in aerial views. Photo A Curtis (2012).
Picture
View west from site of Roman Signal Station, Barcombe Hill. Barcombe Hill trig point is on the extreme left, Long Stone on the peak just left of centre. Although a misty day, Vindolanda Roman Fort can just be made out in the valley, right of centre, with the straight line of the Stanegate Roman Road climbing the ridge to its right. The Signal Station would have provided good views north to Hadrian's Wall including Housesteads Roman Fort to the north-east. Photo A Curtis (2012).
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Cockfield Fell, Co. Durham

19/2/2026

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Picture
LIDAR (DSM, 1m) copyright Environment Agency (2022) - enhanced for archaeology.
Location: NZ122248
"Today the fell is a quiet place where homing pigeons roost while horses and sheep graze the land. However, look a little closer. All around you is one of the largest ancient monuments in the country. Here you can find anything from a 2000 year old settlement to one of Britain's first commercial coal mines and earliest public railway."
Picture
OS 1:10,000 (National Library of Scotland)
The complex prehistoric and industrial archaeology of Cockfield Fell as shown on an enhanced lidar image.

Three non-defensive enclosures (two rectilinear and one oval) may be late prehistoric along with the remains of field systems and possible unenclosed round houses. A poorly preserved square-walled enclosure with attached remains of a small rectangular building is probably medieval.

Coal mining began here in the 14th century revealed by the dark depressions of a large number of small bell-pits, Larger and deeper pits with associated spoil heaps continued later. Deeper mining is responsible for the marks of mining subsidence over much of the area. In the 18th century shafts gave way to drift mines and tramways were built to transport coal from the pits to a local railway following the valley of the River Gaunless, completed in 1830. A branch line was built across the fell in 1863 crossing the River Gaunless and former railway by an impressive viaduct.

Sandstone quarries were opened close to the village. More dramitic were quarries crossing the fell following a whinstone dyke, used for road stone. Part of the east quarry has been infilled but revealed by its huge fan-shaped spoil heaps on its N side.

Scheduled Monument: 1002314

3D Lidar landscape on Sketchfab: https://skfb.ly/pGDPI

Roberts, B. K. (1975). Cockfield Fell. Antiquity 49. Vol 49, pp. 48-50.
Gaunless Railway Viaduct. Photo A Curtis (2015)
Former tramway, Cockfield Fell. Photo A Curtis (2015).
Cockfield Quarry (east end). Photo A Curtis (2015)

Strangely what brought me back to Cockfield Fell (virtually this time), long after my visit in 2015 was the chance discovery on social media of Dixon's Experimental Canal supposedly dug here in the 18th Century. Was that actually true - there seemed to be nothing in the archaeology record? If so, where was it on the lidar image?
Picture
THe above appears on page 76 of the reserach document:
THE 1830 S&DR HAG GERLEASES BRANCH LINE HISTORIC ENVIRONMENT AUDIT
The Friends of the Stockton & Darlington Railway and Archaeo-Environment Ltd. March 2022
The rectangular cut feature so described is located at NZ 1177 2546 and clearly shown on the lidar image.between the long cut of the Haggerleases stone quarry and the ruin  of Millfield Grange. The drain running north from the north side of the pond is also shown. Other areas of disturbance close-by are recorded on the HER and Historic England as quarries, or drifts to mine stone underground.
Picture
Measured from the map, the rectangular cut (labelled as a pond on large scale later OS maps) is approximately 27m (90 feet) long and 5m (16 feet) wide.
Picture
National Library of Scotland Side by Side Map Viewer (OS 2nd Ed. 25" and Google Satellite)
The entry for the feature on the Historic England Aerial Mapping Explorer is given below:

Monument Number 1052156


Hob Uid: 1052156 
Location :
County Durham
Cockfield


Grid Ref : NZ1177025470

Summary : A small rectangular pond of post-medieval date is visible as earthworks. The feature remains extant on the latest 2015 vertical photography.

More information : On Cockfield Fell at NZ 1177 2547, outside the area of RCHME large-scale survey (1a) and not noted by Roberts (1b), is a large rectangular pond of post-medieval date on the lip of a steep north-facing slope. It still holds water. (1)

The small post medieval rectangular pond is visible as an earthwork on air photographs and lidar, centred at NZ 1177 2547. The pond is first depicted on the 1897 edition Ordnance Survey map and is probably associated with mining on Cockfield Fell. The feature is defined by a rectangular depression with an embankment on the downward slope. It remains extant on the latest 2015 vertical photography. This feature was mapped and recorded as part of the Stockton and Darlington Railway Heritage Action Zone Aerial Investigation and Mapping project.
(2)

Picture
Historic England Aerial Mapping Explorer (Accessed 2026)

"In the late 1760s, moving coal was often the hard part. A canal offered a huge advantage: heavy loads could be shifted with a fraction of the effort compared to carts and rough tracks across the fell. Dixon cut a short trial section and even set a flat-bottomed boat on it to prove the concept."
George Dixon's Canal by Northern Perspectives UK on YouTube. 

Canals, coal and the birth of Dixie.
The Northern Echo,15th June 2002.


"Back on the fell, brother George was doing all kinds of experiments. He was producing gas from coal, and his house in Cockfield became the first in the country to be so illuminated.

But George was frustrated. He had inherited the mines, but apart from keeping him in interesting experiments they were not much use, unless he could find someone to buy the coal.
Cockfield Fell, up the Gaunless Valley, is miles from anywhere, so George resolved to build a canal from the fell to the River Tees around Winston. Then he would dig the Tees out and sail his boats to Stockton, and from there on to the huge London market.

To prove he could do it, he dug a stretch of canal on the fell and built a flat-bottomed boat to sail on it. When it worked, he was so excited that he called his friend, landowner Lord Barnard, of Raby Castle, to come and have a look at it.
But Lord Barnard was not impressed. He was not going to contribute financially to any such barmy project, and he certainly was not going to have waterways wandering across his land.

Undeterred, George called a meeting of entrepreneurs in the Post House, in Post House Wynd, Darlington. The meeting included the grandfathers of Edward Pease and Jonathan Backhouse, who later played key roles in creating the S&DR.

That 1767 meeting instructed a surveyor to draw a canal between Winston and Stockton, passing through Cockerton.
Although the canal was never dug because of the expense, it was the first time anyone had thought of linking the coalfield of south Durham to the sea.

The idea resurfaced in the early 19th Century. The plans were resurrected and modified, and ended up as the Stockton and Darlington Railway, linking the coalfield with the sea."

Picture
General View of the Agriculture of the County of Durham, with Observations on the Means of Its Improvement, Drawn Up for the Consideration of the Board of Agriculture and Internal Development By John Bailey (1810) p.275.
And in the same reference:
Picture

"COCKFIELD Fell is probably England’s largest ancient monument. It is a wonderful and windblown place, with all of the North- East’s history laid out amid its lumps and bumps.

From pre-Roman farmsteads to very early factory farming of rabbits, from the first inland deep mine in the country to 400 or more bell pits, from the canal that inspired the Stockton and Darlington Railway to a steaming express line built by one of the greatest Victorian engineers – all is there on Cockfield Fell."

Bleak and charmless – the fell is a hard place to fall for. The Northern Echo, 5th February 2009.
There’s no flower blooming fair,
Upon Cockfield Fell
That with fragrance fills the air,
Upon Cockfield Fell.
And far distant be the day,
When again I’ll wearied stray,
O’er that unfrequented way,
Upon Cockfield Fell

There are no leafy trees
Upon Cockfield Fell,
To protect me from the breeze,
Upon Cockfield Fell.
There no pleasant streamlets flow,
There the vagrant bees ne’er go
For no pretty flowers blow,
Upon Cockfield Fell.

The 'Roman Graves' on Cockfield Fell

Keys to the Past: D57309

One of the main archaeological features removed by the DTM algorithm (retained on DSM as can be seen by comparing the images below) are five small rectangular banked enclosures, apparently open on their northern side.
Historic England (Monument Number: 882410) claims there are six of these but their eastern one (from aerial photographs) doesn't show up well on the lidar.

They are located on both sides of an old trackway close to a prominent coal shaft at NZ 1219 2495. There are no other similar structures visible on the surrounding fell.

The banks are said to be known locally as 'Roman Graves' and some have been dug into with apparently no finds made. The external banks are recorded as being 0.6m high. The enclosures are all roughly the same size, varying from 7.0m-9.0m internally by approximately 6.0m-8.0m transversely, the longer axis being generally E-W. All are distinguished by containing within them from one to five parallel earthen banks up to 0.4 m high (?stalls for horses).

It seems to have been suggested that they may have been pillow mounds (artificial rabbit warrens) but there seems to be no evidence for that and they are probably more likely associated with coal mining or other industrial activity.

The large almost square enclosure is described here (HE: 22089) and not considered as Roman or Romano-British.
LiDAR (DSM, 1m) - enhanced
LiDAR (DTM, 1m) - enhanced
LIDAR (DSM & DTM, 1m) copyright Environment Agency (2022).

Enhancement of the LIDAR was carried out using tools made available in the QGIS plugin, Relief Visualization Toolbox. Kokalj, Žiga & Hesse, Ralf. (2017). Airborne laser scanning raster data visualization: A Guide to Good Practice.
Picture
Historic England Aerial Mapping Explorer (accessed 24/02/2026).
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Unidentified mound, Cramlington

18/2/2026

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Location: NZ 2788 7685
Picture
LIDAR (DSM, 1m) copyright Environment Agency (2022) - enhanced for archaeology.
Low mound almost 100m diameter and approximately 1.5m high, sitting in what was the corner of a former field. Could be modern (coal workings?) or older. Nothing revealed by examination of old maps, historic satellite images, aerial photographs or on recently published Historic England Aerial Mapping Explorer.

The Coal Authority map indicates probable shallow coal mine workings in a boad area including the mound, but no pit shaft at its location.
Picture
Elevation profile of mound from N-S.
The only thing identified on the Northumberland HER in the vicinity is an 'area of ridge and furrow east of the A189 near Cramlington' (N28438). This is shown as including the two fields located south of the boundary (S of the mound) and N of East Cramlington Farm.

Two blocks of medieval or post medieval ridge and furrow are visible as earthworks and cropmarks on historical air photos. The lidar imagery indicates that the earthworks survive. These features are arranged in two large blocks with east to west aligned furrows.

It is not readily apparent on current lidar.

Just for fun - some modern landscaping in recreational areas surrounding Newcastle Great Park. 
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Roman Fort & Camp, Blakehope

16/2/2026

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Picture
LIDAR (DSM, 1m) copyright Environment Agency (2022) - enhanced for archaeology.
Blakehope, Otterburn, Northumberland.

The monument includes the remains of a Roman fort contained within the partial remains of a larger Roman temporary camp, situated on gently sloping ground adjacent to the Dere Street Roman road. The Roman fort is visible as a rectangular enclosure with rounded corners measuring approximately 128m by 119m and orientated NW to SE; it is defined by a single turf built rampart with an outer ditch visible as intermittent low earthworks. There are at least two recorded entrances. A small excavation within the Roman fort indicated it to be pre-Hadrianic in date. The fort is situated within a larger enclosure, interpreted as a Roman temporary camp. This enclosure is defined by a rampart with an internal and external ditch which are partially visible as slight earthworks on the W, N and NW sides. The temporary camp is cut by the Roman Road Dere Street indicating that the road is later than the camp.

Scheduled Monument:
https://historicengland.org.uk/.../the.../list-entry/1006507


Keys to the Past: N8278
Picture
Archaeology in Northumberland Vol. 15 p.39 (2005).
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The Ringses Camp (hillfort), Doddington

16/2/2026

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Picture
LIDAR (DSM, 1m) copyright Environment Agency (2022) - enhanced for archaeology.
The Ringses Camp, (Iron Age hillfort), Doddington, Northumberland.

The interior of the fort contains two circular huts linked by a thin wall, and there is another small one between the innermost and the next rampart on the north-west.

Scheduled Monument protected by law.

Keys to the Past:
https://keystothepast.info/.../results.../Site-Details/...


Atlas of Hillforts:
https://hillforts.arch.ox.ac.uk/records/EN0523.html

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Horton Moor (hillfort), Doddington

16/2/2026

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Picture
LIDAR (DSM, 1m) copyright Environment Agency (2022) - enhanced for archaeology.
Horton Moor, Doddington, Northumberland.

Faint traces of 'Standing Stones Camp' on lidar and as faint crop-mark on Google Earth (2006 imagery). Remains of cairns, in centre and to SW, and banks of field system. Apart from its location, certainly more enclosure than defensive hillfort.

Scheduled Monument protected by law.

You will also find it in the 3D landscape (#5) here:
https://skfb.ly/pqVFq


Atlas of Hillforts:
https://hillforts.arch.ox.ac.uk/records/EN2027.html


Keys to the Past:
https://keystothepast.info/.../results.../Site-Details/...

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