Tynemouth, Possible Neolithic Henge Monument

HER Number:
1918

District:
N Tyneside

Site Name:
Tynemouth, Possible Neolithic Henge Monument

Place:
Tynemouth

Map Sheet:
NZ37SE

Class:
Religious Ritual and Funerary

Site Type: Broad:

Site Type: Specific:
Henge?

General Period:
Prehistoric

Specific Period:
Neolithic

Form of Evidence:
Cropmark

Description:
Cropmark site recognised by Neil Stevenson from three aerial photographs taken by the County Borough of Tynemouth Surveyor's office; two taken in 1956 and the other earlier. The photographs show a circular cropmark with a bank between the two ditches. Post Medieval ridge and furrow overlies the circular cropmark, indicating that it pre-dates the post medieval period and is therefore of some antiquity. It is thought that the circular feature is approximately 50m in diameter. The circular shape and outer and inner ditches of the cropmark suggest a number of possibilities including a Neolithic henge or a Bronze Age ring cairn. One of the photographs appears to show that the feature has two entrances orientated WNW and SSE. This site may therefore represent the most northerly class A henge so far discovered, delineated by an external and internal ditch with a central bank {1}. As there is evidence of Second World War sites nearby, the features may have been associated with some military activity (NMR).

Easting:
3617

Northing:
7016

Grid Reference:
NZ36177016

Lats/Lons:

Sources:
<< HER 1918 >> N. Stevenson, 1998, A Possible Neolithic Henge Monument at Tynemouth, Tyne and Wear Northern Archaeology, vol 15/16, 1998, p 39-43 Aerial Photograph, County Borough of Tynemouth's Surveyor's Office, 1956, PLA 5/1/129, 6 April 1956 -North Shields Library Local Studies Aerial Photograph, County Borough of Tynemouth's Surveyor's Office, 1950, PLA 5/2/141, incorrectly dated to 1956 -North Shields Library Local Studies; NMR MONUMENT NUMBER: 1214377; Vertical aerial photograph reference number RAF 540/1792 0022 13-MAR-1956