Tyne and Wear HER(643): Hedley open fields - Details
643
Gateshead
Hedley open fields
Hedley
NZ25NW
Agriculture and Subsistence
Ridge and Furrow
Broad Ridge and Furrow
Medieval
Earthwork
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.
218
559
NZ218559
<< 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