East Holywell, Holywell Grange Farm, rotary quernstones

HER Number:
5219

District:
N Tyneside

Site Name:
East Holywell, Holywell Grange Farm, rotary quernstones

Place:
East Holywell

Map Sheet:
NZ37SW

Class:
Tools and Equipment

Site Type: Broad:
Grinding Equipment

Site Type: Specific:
Beehive Quern

General Period:
Prehistoric

Specific Period:
Iron Age/Roman

Form of Evidence:
Find

Description:
During a field reconnaissance survey in 1992, a number of upper and lower stones of rotary querns were noted in the garden of Holywell Grange Farm. These originated from the adjacent IA/RB farmstead (HER 745 and 4834). The then owner had also amassed a small collection of stone balls collected from the surrounding fields. A similar item retrieved from a trench cut for a gas pipeline in Holywell/Earsdon before 1973 has been interpreted as a Roman ballista ball. However this type of artefact has also been found from native contexts north of the border and they are not especially suggestive of a Roman military presence in the study area.

Easting:
3137

Northing:
7330

Grid Reference:
NZ31377330

Lats/Lons:

Sources:
<< HER 5219 >> Heritage Site and Landscape Surveys Ltd, 1992, The Proposed Open Cast Site at Fenwick's Close Farm, Blyth Valley, Archaeological Assessment; David Heslop, 2008, Quern Project recording sheets