Hedley open fields

HER Number:
643

District:
Gateshead

Site Name:
Hedley open fields

Place:
Hedley

Map Sheet:
NZ25NW

Class:
Agriculture and Subsistence

Site Type: Broad:
Ridge and Furrow

Site Type: Specific:
Broad Ridge and Furrow

General Period:
Medieval

Specific Period:

Form of Evidence:
Earthwork

Description:
In 1977 Selkirk claimed a suspected Roman Fort visible as very prominent earthworks on aerial photographs, perhaps double-ditched and with a suspected 'vicus' to the north east. With some stonework visible there. The Ordnance Survey reinterpreted it as not a Roman fort but a misidentification of partly enclosed ridge and furrow. The aerial photographs show a large, irregularly-shaped enclosure, its edges well-defined and within it a long, disturbed rectangle which seems to contain a building (HER no. 642). On the east, north and west sides of this rectangle are blocks of ridge and furrow, running roughly north-south. The clearest block contains about 30 big, slightly curved ridges, but these have subsequently been ploughed out.

Easting:
218

Northing:
559

Grid Reference:
NZ218559

Lats/Lons:

Sources:
<< HER 643 >> Aerial Photograph, R. Selkirk, 1977, Hedley Hall, 17 November S 35, 36 -Dept. Archaeology Durham Ordnance Survey archaeological record cards, ISS, 1978, Alleged Roman fort - Rigg & Furrow & boundary banks