Centred (NY 98179935) Camp. (1)

Witchy Neuk, a fortified enclosure, was excavated by the Northumberland County History Committee under the direction of Thomas Wake in June 1936.
The enclosure is D-shaped with its northern side formed by the crags of a sandstone outcrop. The remainder of the enclosure is formed by a single ditch and rampart, with entrances at the east and west. The ditch is 6ft deep and 21ft 6ins across and the rampart varies in height from 4ft 6ins to 8ft 6ins. Along the top of the rampart was a pitching of stones among which was found an inverted saddle stone for grinding corn. At one point dry stone walling revetment was found on the outside of the rampart and at another point the inside slope of the rampart was covered with stone pitching.
Both entrances were protected by mounds projecting outwards on the south side, the mound by the west entrance being curved. The curve of this mound and the dry stone wall revetment suggest a Roman influence. The west entrance was crossed by a stone filled trench, inferring that the entrance was closed by a hurdle which fitted into sockets formed by the stones.
Two hut circles were discovered in the south-east portion of the enclosure, but no hearths, although iron slag was found in the immediate vicinity. Evidence suggests that the huts were of wooden construction. Near the centre of the enclosure was a flagged area measuring 30ft by 20ft with a hearth and two cooking pots. One of the latter contained fragments of animal bones and near the other was a fragment of ancient glass, probably Seine-Rhine manufacture of the 3rd century AD. Also found was a piece of incised sandstone.
Running from the SE side of the enclosure and in a SSE direction for 370yds is an earthwork dike consisting of a bank and ditch with an entrance at the lip of the main ditch of the enclosure. This entrance was crossed by a stone filled ditch similar to the enclosure's west entrance. (2)

Witchy Neuk. A cliff fort with single rampart enclosing an area of approx 1 acre. (3)

The stronghold generally known as Whitefield Camp is situated on a rocky bluff. It measures roughly 270ft east to west and 212ft north to south. It has a single rampart of great strength and a corresponding ditch which to the south east is still some 20ft deep. There are entrances in the north west and north east corners. (4)

The north side of the camp is defended by a rocky precipice with no trace of a rampart. With this line as a base the work is in the form of a semi-circle. About 50 yards south west of the camp are traces of burials. (5)

[Description. Rewrite of authority (4)]. (6)

[Description. Rewrite of authority (4)]. (7)

From the manner of constructing the entrances and the finding of 3rd century glass it is fairly safe to postulate a date within the Roman period for the construction of this work. How long the occupation lasted is impossible to say.
[Article contains shortened version of the excavation report as given by authority (2)]
Type A1 [Forts on the edges of precipices defended in part only by artificial works]. (8)

Material from the excavation at Witchy Neuk donated to the Society of Antiquaries, Newcastle by the North of England Excavation Committee, per Mr T Wake. The objects are:- small fragment of Roman glass bottle, two lumps of iron scoriae, piece of sandstone with larks of a metal implement, lower stone of a saddle quern and a parcel of bones. (9)

Material from the 1936 excavation is in Blackgate Museum, Newcastle (Case 25. 'Witchy Neuk Camp. Near Hepple, Rothbury. Material from excavation of 1936. North of England Excavation Committee. Per Mr T Wake.' [Includes two lumps of iron scoriae and piece of sandstone saddle quern fragment and Roman glass bottle cannot be located]. (10)

Remains of an earthwork are situated upon a north-south ridge of heather- and bracken-covered moorland, upon the highest point at its extreme north end, where the ridge terminates in a line of precipitous crags. The site, at approx 650ft above sea level, overlooks the Swindon Burn valley to the west, the Coquet valley to the north, the Whitefield Burn valley to the east, and the descending slopes of the ridge to the south.
The nearest present freshwater supply is the Swindon Burn to the south-west.
The description of the earthwork as given by Authority 2, is fully correct. The easternmost hut circle cannot now be located. (11)

Reference the earthwork dyke referred to by authy 2. It is not possible to associate this linear feature with the enclosure proper, nor, without excavation, can they be considered contemporary? The stone filled ditch - no longer visible - may be of any period, and modern field entrances on this county are still simply constructed.
The high moors of this region are covered by many travelling earthworks of a similar nature to this dyke, the majority of which date to the 18th century enclosure act, it is considered that this feature possibly falls within the same period. (12)

Listed under pre-Roman/Iron Age univallate (forts, settlements and enclosures). The site is somewhat unusual for the area in having two entrances, each with a single, projecting mound. However, the eastern entrance would seem to be a secondary breakthrough, probably associated with the 'hollowed' track which approaches it. (The fragment of glass, attributed to the Roman period, is not considered to affect the initial context of this site).
The so-called 'cross-dyke' which runs south from the site for some 400yds is of interest in that the original excavations not only record a stone-packed trench for a gate at the entrance to the univallate fort, which subsequently has been taken to indicate the remains of an earlier palisaded enclosure, but also uncovered a similar trench between the ditch of the univallate defences and the beginning of the linear earthwork. Since a corresponding sequence of linear palisade followed by a linear earthwork was plausible, two exploratory cuttings were made in 1962.
The first failed to locate the trench in the recorded position and it may have been removed in the original excavations. The second, made across the linear earthwork itself, showed that it had not been preceded by a linear palisade. There would seem to be no compelling reason therefore to regard the linear earthwork or 'cross-dyke' as in anyway contemporary with the fort. (13)

Resurveyed at 1:2500. (14)

Witchy Neuk palisade enclosure and fort. Promontory cut off by substantial ditch and rampart, when originally excavated a trench was revealed crossing the W entrance and may have been intended for an earlier palisade. Hut circles in the interior are not now visible. (15)

NY 982993. Witchy Neuk hillfort photographed from the air in 1979. (16)

NY 9827 9919. Witchy Neuk univallate hillfort (and linear boundary) 600m W of Hepple Whitefield Farm. Scheduled RSM No 20904. The enclosure is D-shaped in plan and measures 90m E-W by 45m N-S within an immense single rampart and ditch. The well-preserved rampart varies in height from 1.4 to as much as 2.6m; there are clear traces in some areas of dry-stone wall revetment. The ditch is 1.8m deep and up to 6.5m wide. The slighter wall which is visible along the top of the crags at the N end is of modern construction. The hillfort has two entrances, at the E and W ends of the enclosure. Both entrances clearly display the remains of clavicula; that at the W end is curved. There are clear traces of at least two circular houses within the enclosure at the SE end. A quern and fragment of a glass jug recovered during the limited excavations in 1936 suggest occupation in the Roman period. (17)

Site noted in a Farm Environment Plan as in decent condition only, due to rabbit and bracken infestation of the ground. (18)