Durham E-Theses The siting and layout of native settlements in the north east of England Middleton, Paul R. How to cite: Middleton, Paul R. (1966) The siting and layout of native settlements in the north east of England, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/9550/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk THE SITING AND LAYOUT OF NATIVE SETTLEMENTS IN THE NORTH OF ENGLAND The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation from it should be published without his prior written consent and information derived from it should be acknowledged. A Thesis presented, for the Degree of Master of Arts at the University of Durham by Paul R Middleton. 1966. PART 1 LITERARY TEXT CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS v ABBREVIATIONS IN THE TEXT vii INTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER 1 GEOLOGY AND SOILS 8 GENERAL BACKGROUND 8 LAKE DISTRICT 9 NORTHUMBERLAND AND DURHAM 15 Boulder Clays, Sands, and Gravels 15 Ordovician 21 Silurian 21 Old Red Sandstone or Devonian 21 Carboniferous 23 Carboniferous Limestone Series 23 Ceraentstone Group 23 Fell Sandstone Group 2k Scremerston Coal Measures 27 Limestone Group 27 Millstone Grit 28 Coal Measures 29 Igneous Rocks 29 Permo-Triassic- ' 30 Jurassic 31 CHAPTER 2 CLIMATE AND VEGETATION 37 ALTITUDE 38 CLIMATE/VEGETATION RELATIONSHIP kO POLLEN ANALYSIS 42 CORRELATION 46 CHAPTER 3 LAND QUALITY 51 DURHAM 52 NORTHUMBERLAND 53 LAND USE 56 ii Page CHAPTER k RELIEF AND DRAINAGE 60 DRAINAGE 60 RELIEF 62 ACREAGE/HEIGHT RELATIONSHIP OF DEFENDED SITES 62 Hill Forts 65 Promontory Forts 66 Cliff Sites 67 Ring Sites 67 Oval Sites 68 Irregular Sites 68 Rectangular Sites 69 AREAL EXAMPLES IN NORTHUMBERLAND 71 North Cheviot 71 North Tynedale 72 Mid-West Northumberland 73 CHAPTER 5 METHODS OF ANALYSIS 79 ANALYSING TECHNIQUES 81 Use of Maps and Diagrams 81 Vector Diagram 82 Scatter Graph 82 Triangular Graph 82 Use of Statistics 8.5 Correlation 85 Reliability of Correlation Co• efficients 86 The Chi-Squared Test 87 CHAPTER 6 SITING FACTORS 89 DEGREE OF ASPECT 89 North Cheviot 90 Bellingham/Kirlcwhelpington 91 Crosby Ravensworth and Asby 93 iii Page DEGREE OF INTERVISIBILITY 9^ North Cheviot 95 Bellingham/Kirkwhelpington . 96 Crosby Ravensworth and Asby 97 DISTANCE FROM WATER SOURCE 93 Crosby Ravensworth and Asby 99 North Cheviot 99 Bellingham/Kirkwhelpington 100 CHAPTER 7 COMPARATIVE RELATIONSHIPS 103 COMPARISONS BETWEEN SITING FACTORS 103 Triple Comparison 103 Scatter Diagram 110 CORRELATIONS BETWEEN HEIGHT ABOVE MEAN SEA LEVEL AND SOME VARIABLES 111 CONCLUSION 112 Relative Pulls 112 MEASURE OF THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN THE THREE SAMPLE REGIONS USING THE CHI-SQUARED TEST 116 CHAPTER 8 ROMAN/NATIVE RELATIONSHIP 119 POPULATION POTENTIAL 124- Westmorland 125 Lake District 127 Northumberland 12b" CORRELATION 130 CONCLUSION 136 SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY 1W GENERAL BIBLIOGRAPHY 1V? LIST OF TABLES 15^ APPENDICES LIST 155 APPENDICES 157-1 iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 1 The maxim aptly displayed by the historian II.P.R.Finberg that 1 the truth is that early English history is not a study in which legal or mathematical certainty can fairly be expected, nor, as a rule, is strict proof demanded except in reaction against new ideas or controversial opinions. The best we can hope to do is to attempt to establish a weight of probability sufficient to persuade any one who approaches the subject with an open mind1 has been a guiding light in the production of this thesis. The kindling of this light has been the sole responsibility of Professor Eric Birley of Durham university who first introduced me to the fascinating possibilities that application of geographical techniques might have upon Iron Age settlement in the north of England. From the initial stimulation developed a period of research into the problems of siting and layout of native settlements. The results of this are set out in the following chapters. Any attempt to express my great gratitude to Professor Birley must be clumsy, but the hours of work to which I waae introduced v/ere all immense fun and I'm sure, worthwhile. Not least it made me humble in the realisation that the pursuit of knowledge only reveals the extent of the ignorance of the pursuer. The thanks must also extend to my colleagues in the Archaeology Department who nobly put up with my spreads v of maps and appar&ntly unnecessary questions. Invaluable contact was made with Mr.George Jobey of the Department of Extra-Mural Studies in the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, who as the foremost authority upon native settlement in the north of England, by personal example of excavation and investigation, tendered me much advice upon the subject. His contribution to the amount of knowledge we have is a.ptly shown in the bibliography, where volume,as well as quality of works, is unrivalled. I must not forget ray companions in the Geography Department of Durham University. My thanks go to Professor W.B.Fisher for his rash decision in training me for three years, and his willingness in supporting my historical research. Special mention must also be made of the invaluable conversations between myself and Dr.Brian Roberts of the Geography Department, on the hills of Weardale and Teesdale, where many interesting thoughts pertaining to history were provoked, argued and discarded. His stimulative appreciation of the pros and cons of discussion were of great help during the writing of the thesis. His sensitive approach to history and its problems is a thing to be admired. 1 Finberg, H.P.R.,'Lucerna', p.2-3- (1964). vi ABBREVIATIONS IN THE TEXT AAn Archaeologia Aeliana, nth.Series. Ant. Antiquity. AJ Archaeology Journal. Arch. Archaeologia. BNC Berwickshire Naturalists Field Club. CAPC Cambridge Air Photo Corporation. ChT Christianbury Trust (Cambridge). DNAAS Durham and Northumberland Architectural and Archaeological Society. JKStJ Information from J.K.St.Joseph. NCH Northumberland County History. 0':S. Ordnance Survey. PAI Proceedings of the Archaeological Institute. PSANn Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, nth.Series. RCHMW Royal Commission on Historical Monuments: Westmorland. TAAND Transactions of the Architectural and Archaeological Society of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. VCH Victoria County History. CVJn Cumberland and Westmorland Transactions, nth.Series. vii INTRODUCTION The discussion of any historical problem necessitates definition of the terms used in that discussion; and this thesis is no exception. Native settlements are best described as those which show characteristics of an indigenous development, from a pre-Soman or Roman origin, and which were probably occupied by the native element of the population as opposed to the Roman. The uncertainty of the Roman influence upon the native has led us to be wary when we discuss these 'native' settlements. In their siting and layout we may often conjecture a Roman influence. It is possible that pre-Roman native settlements were taken over by 'Romanized' natives as part of the Roman attitude towards colonisation of the provinces; or the pre-Roman elements may have derived some of their Roman characteristics from trade contacts with the militia in the north. In-many cases then, we may have a deliberate policy of patronisation of existing settlements, especially the farmsteads, as providers of meat, corn and vegetables. However, this picture is only relevant for certain types of native settlement - those v/hich indicate by their outxvard structure, finds from excavation, or associated agricultural or pastoral land, a primarily farm-based economy. In contrast, there are many settlements where -1- evidence of economy is lacking. Many of the defended settle• ments in the North Cheviot and Redesdale areas we must presume relied upon pastoralism as a livlihood. All these suggestions become shaky when we come to assessing evidence for their foundation. So; few sites have been investigated and even fewer have been excavated. To date, the writer has identified a possible 859 sites which might have been occupied during the northern Iron Age. This number includes a few ancient references to earthworks where hypothetical occupation must be assumed for the period. In reality, it is probable that a great many more settlements existed between 500 B.C. and 500 A.D. A hint of a possible high site density, comes from Dr.N.McCord's air photographs of the east Northumberland plain, where he has brought out settlement outlines with associated enclosures. The exact age, use and date of these can only come with excavation. The 859 sites in the north are divided between the counties as follows. Northumberland has produced the greatest number of known sites with approximately 576, Westmorland has 101, Cumberland 109, Durham 50, and Lancashire-North- of-the-Sands 23, although one must alv/ays qualify apparantly factual statements with the provisor that they can only be approximate. Air photography has produced so far, a possible 26 extra sites of Iron Age date, and the evidence from place-names adds a possible 47 sites of Roman or native date. In view of the very apparant lack of positive concrete evidence, the only reasonable course that we can follow is to assimilate the evidence that we have for the north, and try to read into it some sort of meaning relevant to the known history of the northern area.