NY 77288925 Camp. (1)

Sidwood. Single-banked rectangular earthwork (approximately 1/4 acre in area) (Listed under Native sites). (2)

Type C (Under Prehistoric section-rectangular works and Enclosures). (3)

Remains of an earthwork at approximately 590 feet above OD, on a north-east slope of a low ridge of pastureland. The site commands the valley of the Tarset Burn to the north-west, north-east and south-east. High ground overlooks from beyond a depression on the south-west side. The slopes from the north-east side of the earthwork are approximately 1:4 gradient.
The earthwork, nearly square in plan, with an entrance in the east side, is a single rampart enclosure with no traces of a ditch. The bank of earth and stone is very spread on the south and east sides, very low and narrow on the west side, and practically non-existent on the north side. The interior is scooped into the top of the ridge, along the south side, and the south-east corner is subject to boggy conditions, and was probably a pond for fresh water supply, or to stock fish. On higher ground in the west half, are three hut circles of 7m diameter with entrances towards the centre of the interior. There is a 'blister' hut circle in the north-west corner, and traces of another in the south-west corner. A small depression in the steep slopes on the exterior of the north bank, may be a further hut circle.
The earthwork appears to have been a homestead for several families. The straight sides and rounded corners suggest Roman influence in construction. Similar homesteads in the locality have been dated to probable Romano-British or post-Roman period(s). The absence of stock enclosures suggest the purpose of this earthwork to have been purely habitational. Sketch survey 1:1250. (4)

Listed as small Romano-British settlement (type A). (5)

The earthwork is generally as described by F1, but has been further mutilated during the afforestation of the surrounding area. Of the internal hut circles previously noted, only two can now be identified. In form and construction the work is consistent with the local type 'A' Romano-British homestead/settlement. Resurveyed at 1:2500. (6)

A Romano British rectilinear settlement with dimensions of 36m north west-south east by 38m north east-south west between bank centres. (See illustration). Internally the enclosure has been divided into two approximately equal areas, the upper west half in which three hut circles (8m, 7m and 5.5m in diameter) with ill-defined entrances in the east are still discernible. The lower east half sub-divided by an entrance causeway into two enclosures almost certainly for stock. A modern ditch has been dug across the stock yards. Surveyed at 1:10,000. (7)

Three hut circles inside the enclosure and two tucked into the outside of the northern rampart. (8)

NY 773893. Sidwood Romano-British settlement. Well preserved enclosure measuring 34m x 33m. Entrance in east end, causeway between two sunken yards to remains of three stone huts at rear. (9)

Scheduled. (10)

The enclosed settlement at Sidwood (NY 7728 8925) was surveyed by RCHME in February 1997 at 1:500 scale.

The settlement, which now lies within a clearing in part of Kielder Forest, measures 33m by 38m internally between the crests of the banks.

As stated by authority 4, the perimeter has been differentially preserved along its length; it is best preserved along the S half of the NW rampart where it measures 3.6m wide and 0.7m high internally.
The bank is very stony but no facing stones are visible here or elsewhere on the site.

The most prominent feature within the interior is a scooped stock yard (identified as a pond by authority 4) which is 23m by 19m overall and up to 1.6m deep. There is a raised trackway adjacent to
the NE side of the stock yard which may partially define a second much smaller yard but the archaeological evidence is not conclusive.

There are three hut circles within the settlement. Of these the best preserved is situated in the SW corner. It is 5.5m in diameter within a moss-covered, stony bank 1.5m wide. Like the other hut
circles, its entrance looks towards the main entrance. The central hut is oval in shape, measuring 5.2m by 7.0m. The NE hut circle is much smaller than the other two, having an internal diameter of 3.4m;
like the previous hut it survives mainly as an internal scarp rather than a bank. Both this hut and the first appear to have been partly excavated although there is no known documentary record of this. The
so-called `blister' hut circle noted by authority 4 was not identified.

Adjoining the exterior of the NE rampart and cut into the natural slope is a circular hollow surrounded by a bank, which may be the remains of a further hut circle. It is 5m in diameter between the crests of the banks and 1.1m below the top of the rampart. There is a possible entrance to the NE. (11a)