Humbleton Hill

The hillfort is situated on the summit of the hill. It consists of the tumbled remains of a massive drystone wall which must have once stood about 2 metres high and more than 3 metres wide. A second inner wall was built later, perhaps to reinforce the weakest part of the hillfort on its north and east side. Amongst all of the rubble, some of the original stone wall has survived, in places six courses high. Within the ramparts are scoops in the surface, 4m to 8m across; all that remains of the timber roundhouses that once dotted the interior.

An outer enclosure surrounds the hillfort. It may have been used by the hillfort dwellers to keep their cattle safe, though some archaeologists believe that it may be several centuries older- only careful excavations will reveal the answer.

The hillfort overlooks the site of the Battle of Homildon, fought between English and Scottish armies on the 14th September 1402. Archibald, Earl of Douglas, together with some of the most able noblemen of Scotland, was returning from a raid on the County which had taken them to the gates of Newcastle. With only a few miles to the Tweed and safety, they were ambushed by the garrison from Bamburgh Castle led by Henry 'Hotspur' Percy, bolstered with men raised from the surrounding districts. The English archers decimated the Scots and as many as 800 fell where they stood, with a further 500 slain as they fled. The English lost but 5 men. To this day the battle site is known as Red Riggs from the blood of the Scots spilt on that day.

Monday Cleugh

The hillfort is situated on level ground at the head of a deep crag-sided hollow called Monday Cleugh which forms part of its defences on the east side. Although the site is

overlooked by Harehope to the north east and Gains Law to the south it commands

extensive views to the east, north and west.

The enclosure is roughly semi-circular in shape and is surrounded by three earth

and stone banks on the north and west, two scarped banks on the south and one on the

east where the crags provide natural defences. Within the ramparts are the foundations for

three stone-built roundhouses, a later rectangular building near the west entrance, and two

sub-rectangular building foundations attached to the outer rampart on the north side of

the enclosure. A later sheepfold overlies the ramparts on the west side of the hillfort.

Yeavering Bell

This powerful and imposing hill has drawn people for millennia. Over four

thousand years ago, Stone Age people aligned a henge monument to face it. Two

thousand years later Iron Age people built a massive drystone rampart, enclosing both

summits of the hill. Today, the ramparts, which once stood perhaps 2m high on the outer

face and up to 3m wide, have long since tumbled. The hillfort was one of the largest Iron

Age settlements in northern Britain and includes within its ramparts some 130 scoops for

timber-built roundhouses.

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St. Gregory's Hill

Situated beneath Yeavering Bell, this small Iron Age hillfort was built to take

advantage of the steep scarp on its north and west sides. Impressive double ramparts

survive on these sites, but curiously the east side, which is overlooked by higher ground,

was relatively lightly defended. This perhaps indicates that hillforts were not built for

defence but for display. Only a single timber-built roundhouse has been identified within.

At 95m2 in floor area, this would have been surprisingly spacious but even so this site

would have housed no more than an extended family unit. The site was completely

remodelled on two occasions during the Roman period, when two farmsteads comprising

at least 10 stone-built roundhouses were built within the earlier hillfort, leaving the

interior much disturbed. Stone-robbing of the site and steam ploughing of the adjacent

area in the 19th century, in the interests of land improvement, further denuded the

monument.

West Hill

Earliest feature on the site is a bank and ditch which precedes the building of the

ramparts but is of unknown date. The hillfort itself comprises the fairly well preserved

remains of a massive stone rampart, with a single east-facing entrance. The sites of ten

probable and three possible buildings lie within the circuit. All but one probably date

from the Roman period, and only one possible platform for a timber-built roundhouse,

dating generally to the construction of the hillfort, can be seen. A large outer enclosure is

likely to date to the Roman period and may have been a stock enclosure. This is overlain

by an extremely well preserved Roman period farmstead consisting of at least two stone

built roundhouses and eight ancillary structures, with associated yards.

Staw Hill

There were two large Iron Age timber roundhouses in the interior. At some point

in the Iron Age, a second rampart was added to the first, apparently for 'show'. In the

Roman period, the area enclosed by the second rampart was converted to a 'scooped

settlement' and two stone-built roundhouses were built within the main rampart, parts of

which were rebuilt using the tumbled rubble of the collapsed Iron Age rampart.

In the medieval period, two sheepfolds were built up against the tumbled remains

of the prehistoric ramparts.

Mid Hill

There were as many as seven large Iron Age timber roundhouses in the interior.

The largest of these, with a floor-space of 95 square metres was not much smaller than a

modern bungalow. This cluster of houses may have been enclosed within a timber

palisade, which was replaced at some point in the Iron Age by the stone built rampart.

The rampart is impressive on the north-west, but tiny on the south-east, although

this side was the weakest in defensive terms, with a big 'blind spot'. Conclusion: above

all, ramparts were about showing off to the arriving visitor, not about defending against

Well-planned or prolonged attack.

In the Roman period, the interior was divided precisely into two halves by a fence

or hedge, and a stone-built house with an attached yard was built within each of these

paddocks. A new entrance was created on the east to give access to that half of the

interior, and the perimeter was rebuilt (unusually carefully) using the tumbled rubble

from the Iron Age rampart.

The surrounding landscape has been ploughed in the medieval period and later,

but prehistoric cultivation terraces survive in places.

East Laddie's Knowe

The settlement is situated on the summit of a spur with steep slopes to the north-

west and south-east. It comprises an oval shaped area of c.O.7ha enclosed by a double

rampart. The ramparts have been constructed by cutting into the natural hill slope to form

a vertical face which was then revetted by stone, in places this incorporates natural stone

outcrops. The earthworks are slight and the site is best appreciated from the air. The

south-west side is abutted by a Roman period enclosed homestead. The circular stone

foundations of two prehistoric buildings are visible. One building, c.13m in diameter, is

set into the south-east side of the enclosure. A second, c.6m in diameter, lies outside the

enclosure and is built against the northern bank. Immediately to the south of the

homestead lies a turf covered Bronze Age burial cairn.

Ringchesters

Evidence from field survey suggests that a palisaded enclosure existed on this site

before the hillfort was constructed. This was superseded by the construction of the hillfort

formed by a circuit of two near circular stone-revetted earthen ramparts, probably topped

by some form of palisade or hedge. It contained only a handful of timber-built

roundhouses dating to the period when the ramparts were constructed. One of the houses

is particularly large at 65m2 in plan and, with an apparent absence of subdividing

boundaries within the hillfort, suggests relatively few occupants, perhaps an extended

family. A number of much smaller, later stone built roundhouses can also be seen.

Little Hetha

The hillfort settlement, roughly oval in shape, is situated on the summit of a spur

with steep slopes on all sides except the south where the ground falls away gently and

then rises sharply to overlook the site. The settlement is enclosed by two ramparts except

on the north side where there are three; there is a berm between the ramparts. The

ramparts are made up of earth and stone and large revetting boulders are visible around

the perimeter of the outer rampart. There are two entrances, one facing north east and the

other facing north west. The interior of the site, which was much disturbed in the

medieval or later period when two rectangular buildings were built in the central area,

contains the remains of at least three stone-founded roundhouses.

Great Hetha

The hillfort on Great Hetha consists of two ramparts, the outer being the earlier in

construction. The outer face of the inner rampart may have been as high as 3.5m for

much of the circuit but on the north east side there appears to have been a bank virtually

no wall at all. This suggests that this section was less significant and that the main

approach to the hillfort was from the opposite side where display was more important.

However, the dominant location and strength of the ramparts makes this site one of the

.most well defended prehistoric settlements in the Cheviots. The remains of platforms for

timber roundhouses can be seen arranged around the crest of the hill.

Sinkside

The hillfort is situated in a naturally defensible position overlooking the valley of

the College Burn and is enclosed by a broad stone rampart. Although ungrazed and

hummocky, the interior formerly contained visible traces of Iron Age timber roundhouses

and probable Romano-British stone-founded roundhouses and internal divisions. The

south-east circuit is overlain by a modern sheep stell. The rampart now consists mostly of

the scree core, but sections of the original prehistoric masonry survive in places. A simple

gap entrance, 3m wide and defined by large upstanding boulders, is clearly visible in the

north-west circuit.

North Blackhagg

The hillfort is the most southerly of a linear series of defended settlements which

extend along the west side of the College Valley.It is situated on a prominent summit on

the north-east shoulder of Blackhagg Rigg overlooking the steep western slopes of the

College Valley , and is enclosed by two concentric stone ramparts. Traces of at least four

scooped platforms for timber-built roundhouses are visible along the western edge of the

interior. The exterior face of the rampart is abutted by the foundations of two later stone-

built roundhouses. A medieval or later sheep stell was built over the northern part of the

interior, and this appears to have been replaced by a second stell built over the northern

ramparts. The site has been damaged in recent years by the erection of three walkers

cairns along the east and south-east ramparts.