Reasons for Designation
In Cumbria and Northumberland several distinctive types of native settlements
dating to the Roman period have been identified. The majority were small, non-
defensive, enclosed homesteads or farms. In many areas they were of stone
construction, although in the coastal lowlands timber-built variants were also
common. In much of Northumberland, especially in the Cheviots, the enclosures
were curvilinear in form. Further south a rectangular form was more common.
Elsewhere, especially near the Scottish border, another type occurs where the
settlement enclosure was `scooped' into the hillslope. Frequently the
enclosures reveal a regularity and similarity of internal layout. The standard
layout included one or more stone round-houses situated towards the rear of
the enclosure, facing the single entranceway. In front of the houses were
pathways and small enclosed yards. Homesteads normally had only one or two
houses, but larger enclosures could contain as many as six. At some sites the
settlement appears to have grown, often with houses spilling out of the main
enclosure and clustered around it. At these sites up to 30 houses may be
found. In the Cumbrian uplands the settlements were of less regimented form
and unenclosed clusters of houses of broadly contemporary date are also known.
These homesteads were being constructed and used by non-Roman natives
throughout the period of the Roman occupation. Their origins lie in settlement
forms developed before the arrival of the Romans. These homesteads are common
throughout the uplands where they frequently survive as well-preserved
earthworks. In lowland coastal areas they were also originally common,
although there they can frequently only be located through aerial photography.
All homestead sites which survive substantially intact will normally be
identified as nationally important.
Shielings are small seasonally occupied huts which were built to provide
shelter for herdsmen who tended animals grazing summer pasture on upland or
marshland. These huts reflect a system called transhumance, whereby stock was
moved in spring from lowland pasture around the permanently occupied farms to
communal upland grazing during the warmer summer months. The construction of
herdsmen's huts in a form distinctive from the normal dwelling houses of farms
appears from the early medieval period onwards (from AD 450), when the
practice of transhumance is also known from documentary sources and place name
studies. Their construction appears to cease at the end of the 16th century.
Shielings are reasonably common in the uplands but frequently represent the
only evidence for medieval settlement and farming practice here. Those
examples which survive well and which help illustrate medieval land use in an
area are considered to be nationally important.
The enclosures and circular house foundations to the north east of Dunsdale
form a well preserved example of a Roman period native settlement and retain
significant archaeological deposits. It is one of a group of similar
Romano-British settlements in the area and will contribute to any study of the
settlement pattern at this time. The shieling will also retain significant
archaeological deposits. The subsequent reuse of the site during the
medieval period is characteristic of many similar sites in this area. This
subsequent reuse forms a significant part of the site's history. The remains
of both periods will contribute greatly to any study of continuity of
occupation, or later re-occupation of earlier sites, in this area.
Details
This monument includes a native enclosed settlement dating to the Roman period
and a medieval shieling. It is situated 165m north east of Dunsdale, adjacent
to the Bizzle Burn. The monument consists of three conjoined enclosures of
earth and stone banks, the interiors of the enclosures are slightly scooped
into the ground surface. The circular stone foundations of several prehistoric
buildings lie within and adjacent to the enclosures. The stone foundation of
a rectangular building of medieval date, interpreted as a shieling, lies to
the east of the enclosures and is included within the monument.
The site is situated on a small area of level ground on the very edge of the
steep east bank of the Bizzle Burn, the ground also falls away sharply to the
north where the Bizzle Burn joins the main valley of the Lambden Burn. The
settlement is overlooked to north and south by the steep slopes of The Cheviot
and Coldburn Hill. The enclosures comprise three irregularly shaped areas
contained within earth and stone banks up to 0.75m high and between 1m and 3m
wide. The westernmost enclosure covers a D-shaped area 12m long and 9m wide,
the interior has been divided at a later date into three smaller compartments
by two walls of loose rubble. The central enclosure covers a sub-rectangular
area 14.4m long by 10.5m wide, it contains the stone foundations of a
sub-circular building. The easternmost enclosure contains a long, narrow area
24.5m by 9m. The eastern wall of this enclosure is a continuation of the
northern wall of the central enclosure. This enclosure formed a courtyard for
a circular stone building, 6m in diameter, which was built into the south west
corner. The circular stone foundations of a further three prehistoric
buildings, between between 4.5m and 7m in diameter and up to 0.5m high, are
clustered around the outside of the westernmost enclosure. These buildings
may originally have been contained within an enclosing wall which has
subsequently been lost by the erosion caused by the Bizzle and Lambden Burns.
The site has had a complex history and the enclosure walls represent more than
one phase of construction. Some of the divisions are likely to be associated
with the later occupation of the site during the medieval period. Evidence of
this later occupation is apparent in the foundations of a rectangular building
which lies 4m to the east of the enclosure complex. This building is
interpreted as a medieval shieling. It is 15.3m long and 5.3m wide, the walls
are 1m wide and up to 0.2m high. The building is sub-divided by an internal
cross-wall.
MAP EXTRACT
The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.
