• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content

Keys To The Past

MENUMENU
  • Search the Records
  • Sites to Visit
    • Anglo-Saxon Sites
    • Medieval Sites
    • Post Medieval Sites
    • Prehistoric Sites
    • Roman Sites
    • Favourite Sites
  • Local Histories
  • Get Involved
  • Overviews
  • Glossary
  • Help
You are here: Home / Search the Records / Search Results / Results of Search / Site Details

Site Details

Iron Age hillfort, Shackleton Beacon Hill, Heighington

Shackleton Beacon is the best example of an Iron Age hillfort in County Durham. The hill is surrounded by large earth banks divided by a ditch. The remains of an old windmill stands inside the fort on the top of the hill. This was later turned into a folly in the 19th century. This is a Scheduled Ancient Monument protected by law.

A small multivallate hillfort of Iron Age date, situated in a prominent position on the west end of a promontory protected on the north and west sides by steep natural slopes. The hillfort is visible as a roughly oval enclosure 60 metres north west to south east by 75 metres north east to south west. The interior of the enclosure is on two levels. The western part, which is is a level platform, measures 75 metres by 27 metres, while to the east, the ground falls steeply away to a lower area some 60 metres by 20 metres. On the north east side the enclosure is protected by double banks of stone and earth each 5 metres wide and standing up to 1 metre high, separated by a medial ditch 5 metres wide and 1 metre deep. On the south and western sides the defences follow the natural slope of the hill; on these sides they are stronger and there is a sequence of four ditches and ramparts which decrease in size and strength down slope. The ramparts vary in height from 2.5 metres to 0.2 metres and they are on average 7 metres wide. The ditches vary between 0.2 metres and 3 metres deep and are on average 7 metres wide. Scheduled.

D1453
Post Medieval (1540 to 1901)
Iron Age (800BC to 43AD)
Scheduled Monument
  • National Heritage List for England Entry Number: 1016867
Limestone Landscapes Historic Environment Audit And Action Plan 2008 - 2009; Archaeo-Environment Ltd doi:10.5284/1019702
RCHME: Durham SAMs Project 1991; Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England
Durham Magnesian Limestone Survey 1983 - 1984; Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England


Source of Reference

Disclaimer -

Please note that this information has been compiled from a number of different sources. Durham County Council and Northumberland County Council can accept no responsibility for any inaccuracy contained therein. If you wish to use/copy any of the images, please ensure that you read the Copyright information provided.

Top of Page

Contact us | Useful links | Legal Information | Accessibility Statement | Acknowledgements

© 2021 Durham County Council and Northumberland County Council