NT 960088: A palisaded enclosure with fragmentary traces of internal round timber houses was discovered on air photographs on Bleakmoor Hill. Surveyed at 1:500. (1)

A palisade settlement site where the surrounding palisade trench is clearly visible as a trench up to 1.5m wide x 0.4m deep except on the south side where it may have been obliterated by recent vehicle tracks. Within the palisade trench are the incomplete remains of four ring groove houses of estimated diameters between 7m-11.5m. Just inside the east edge of the enclosure are possible traces of further houses represented by intersecting arcs. Visible on aerial photographs. (2)(3)

NT 9600 0888. Palisaded enclosure on Bleakmoor Hill 700m NW of Biddlestone Townfoot Farm. Scheduled RSM No 25046. The remains of a palisaded settlement of Early Iron Age situated on the summit of Bleakmore Hill. The settlement comprises the remains of at least four timber houses visible as shallow circular grooves. The houses range in size from 7m to 11.5m in diameter. They are enclosed by a very well defined sub-circular palisade trench 1.5m wide and 0.4m deep, enclosing an area of 60m E-W by 50m N-S. (4)

A series of trenches were undertaken by Tyne and Wear Museums in 1996 across the area. This revealed no features of any great archaeological significance within the proposed development area necessitated by an extension to the quarry area. The presumed stock shelter excavated is of a type ubquitous in the Cheviots. The importance of the site with a range of remains is again highlighted. (5)

Two geophysical surveys were carried out in 2016 and 2017 by Archaeological Research Services Ltd. The results from the gradiometer survey were inconclusive with underlying bedrock appearing to produce a strong and erratic response masking any archaeological features; no evidence of buried archaeological features was produced. Earth resistance survey was more successful and detected features that are visible on the surface as well as possible features that were previously unrecorded.
Detected features include the best-preserved section of the palisaded enclosure's construction slot. A series of other anomalies have been recorded inside the enclosure, including a probable pits, shallow ditch, ring groove. (6)

An earthwork survey was carried out in December 2016 of the palisaded enclosure and its environs. The construction slot of the palisaded enclosure is partially mutilated by ridge and furrow cultivation but can be traced on the ground as an ovoid feature. The southern side of the enclosure has been entirely truncated and there are no surface remains. The palisade construction slot is best preserved on the eastern side where it measures up to 0.3m deep and 2m wide; on the western side it measures 0.1m deep by 0.9m wide. Internally the enclosure measures 70m EW by 49m NS. There are hints of a small inner bank up to 0.2m high on the eastern side which is presumed to be upcast from the construction slot. On the north-east side is an apparent embellished entrance that may once have had large posts and a gate. Inside the enclosure are a number of circular ring grooves; some may be houses, whereas others could be barns or workshops. It is unclear which structures are contemporary with each other but there are clearly overlapping buildings at the north-east side of the enclosure. (7)

In 2017 four evaluation trenches were excavated around the circuit of the enclosure and its interior. Trench 1 exposed the rock-cut construction slot of the palisade, which had a U-shaped profile and measured up to 0.8m deep, and a post-pipe and pit. The post-pipe shows that the construction slot had held substantial timber uprights about 0.18m to 0.25m wide. Radiocarbon dating of charcoal from the construction slot fill produced a date of 731-400 cal BC or 510-407 cal BC (SUERC-76569 (GU45762)), placing the enclosure in the Early Iron Age (early fifth century cal BC).
Trench 2 was in the interior of the enclosure and sampled the two largest ring grooves. It exposed a heavily truncated scooped hut platform with an internal diameter of about 7.4m and associated ring groove. Radiocarbon dating of charcoal from the ring groove produced a date of 736-401 cal BC and probably 516-408 cal BC (SUERC-76572 (GU45765)), placing the ring groove in the Early Iron Age (early fifth century cal BC). A pit was also located in the trench, outside the ring groove and contained a quern stone fragment. A portion of a second ring groove was similar in character to that described above; the interior floor deposits had been completely removed by later cord rig/ridge and furrow cultivation. Radiocarbon dating of charcoal from a pit produced a date of 728-395 cal BC and probably 489-401 cal BC (SUERC-76571 (GU45764)), consistent with dates previously mentioned.
Trench 3 also crossed the palisade construction slot and sampled an internal ring groove. Although no post-pipe was revealed in this trench the slot was of the same construction as found in Trench 1 with stone packing material to support timber uprights. Radiocarbon dating of a charcoal sample also produced an Early Iron Age date. A pit found in Trench 3 demonstrated there was phasing on the site: the ring groove suggests a phase of unenclosed Iron Age settlement before the palisade was cut to enclose the settlement. Radiocarbon dating of two charcoal samples from the ring groove produced Mesolithic dates (4846-4716 cal BC and probably 4828-4729 cal BC (SUERC-76574 (GU45768)), and 4345-4253 cal BC and probably 4336-4265 cal BC (SUERC-82096 (GU49054))). The material is residual resulting from earlier activity and appears to have been incorporated into the fill of the ring groove during its construction in the Iron Age.
Trench 4 was located on the south side of the enclosure, across the projected line of the construction slot where no remains are visible on the surface. The construction slot was evident in the excavation as well as a stony deposit interpreted as tumble, possibly from a wall or stone cladding. Three sherds of a later prehistoric pottery vessel were found. The possibility of the presence here of two termini is speculated and suggests a possible entrance. (8)