NU 060205. A pattern of cropmarks situated on the slope of a ridge 3/4 mile east of Wooperton are visible on aerial photographs A/069486/11 and A/069486/19 held at Newcastle University. One group of elongated rectangular areas seems to be the remains of a field system of sorts, but of uncertain context. (Northing visible on available aerial photographs RAF 1946). (1)

The area cited is a flattish pasture field which has no surface features to account for these markings. Some meandering sheep-walks and indications of a modern field drainage system visible on the surface of the field may have been mis-interpreted from the aerial photographs. (2)

Aerial photographs show crop marks of a series of ditches on different alignments forming a field system. (3)

Trial excavation by the Archaeological Unit for North East England, confirmed possibility of a Grubenhauser. Linear boundaries, enclosures and eight sub-rectangular marks (grubenhauser) represented human activity; lie in an area of 3ha. Loomweights found in occupation debris. (4)

The cropmarks lie at the north end of a plateau of glacial sands and gravels about 30m above the level of the River Till. Against a background of geological marks, including ice wedge casts, archaeological features can be traced. These include a roughly L-shaped linear boundary, pit alignment and another narrow linear boundary, as well as two enclosures - one lying across the boundary features and some small rectangular marks scattered over an area of 2ha of which at least eight are identified as Grubenhauser. The distribution of Grubenhauser appears to be influenced by the narrow linear boundary at the north of the site.
Excavation was carried out of one large and three small pit-like features, all clearly visible as cropmarks, and of part of the L-shaped boundary. Three pits and a narrow gully lay to the west of the excavated area and four small pits, or postholes, were scattered across the site. The L-shaped boundary ditch was V-shaped in profile. The largest pit-like feature was confirmed by excavation as a Grubenhaus; it measures 0.5m deep by 4.7m long by up to 3.9m wide with a posthole at each end. Five zones were identified in the fill of the pit and interpreted as stages in the use and disuse of the building. The finds include 20-30 ring form loomweights and four pieces of pottery.
The Grubenhaus is a medium sized structure compared with others of the type. There is no conclusive evidence for the position of the floor as ground levels have been lost through subsequent cultivation. New Bewick is interpreted as an Anglo-Saxon period settlement with eight or more Grubenhaus. (5)

Early medieval Grubenhaeuser and prehistoric/ Roman enclosures, ditches, pits, pit alignments and ring ditches are visible as cropmarks on air photographs. The cropmark complex at New Bewick is a complicated multi-phase site which is superimposed on a background of complex geological cropmarks. There are 23 Grubenhaeuser loosely clustered around NU 0609 2062 where two long linears intersect. They are sub-rectangular in places and range from 2m by 3m to 4m by 6m. Other less well-defined maculae in the area may be less well-preserved examples.
The principal elements in this complex are long, gently curving linear features running between NU 0515 2048 and NU 0619 2056, and NU 0561 2073 and NU 0571 2033. Some of these appear to be pit rather than ditch defined features, but have only been mapped as such where the crop mark evidence is unequivocal. These ditches and pit alignments appear to converge towards the centre of the area at NU 056 205 and divide the land into large irregular parcels.
There is a small rectilinear enclosure, 22m by 21m, built into the corner of one of the ditches but the relationship between these land divisions and the other enclosures unclear. At NU 0614 2054 a large rectilinear enclosure, 83m by 41m, straddles a pit alignment, ditch and part of the corner enclosure. The southern extent of this enclosure is obscured by geological crop marks but may have been open-ended. There is a small entrance in the flattened north-east corner and an internal sub-division bisects the enclosure. A small area between the intersecting ditches of the enclosure and one of the long linears appears to be closed off by a narrow ditch suggesting the two were near contemporary.
At NU 0608 2042, NU 0608 2045, NU 0615 2061 and NU 0614 2062 there are four possible, fine-ditched curvilinear enclosures, all incomplete. At NU 0607 2409 is an irregular, rectilinear, ditch-defined enclosure 28m by 29m. It has an internal sub-division and a north-east facing entrance in the north-east defined by out-turned ditches. There are three ring ditches at NU 0558 2071, NU 0557 2052 and NU 0547 2057 measuring 6m, 6m and 9m in diameter respectively. These may be unenclosed settlement or burial monuments. At NU 0556 2054 are a series of irregularly shaped pits, on average approximately 1m in diameter and covering an area of approximately 140m by 31m. It is unclear whether these represent archaeological features.The cropmarks centering around NU 060 206 were investigated. They appeared to respect a linear feature running across the site. The largest and 3 smaller examples were excavated. The large feature was confirmed as an Anglo-Saxon Grubenhaus, with 5 phases of use and decay. Hand made pottery and lomweights were found. (6)

A series of geophysical surveys were undertaken as part of MSc research by the University of Newcastle upon Tyne over the cropmarks at New Bewick during May and June 1984 to better define and characterise what had been earlier recorded, as well as testing various methods of earth resistance survey and equipment. This revealed a series of ditch- and pit-like anomalies within the area surveyed, with varying degrees of definition depending upon the methods and subsequent manipulation of the results used, and suggested (subsequently confirmed by the excavations) that some of the anomalies were grubenhauser. (7)

Limited work as an evaluation carried out in this area revealed no archaeological features within the two 50m by 2m trenches excavated, though these trenches were sited away from archaeological cropmark features seen earlier. (8)

General association with HER 30524 and HER 30525. (9)