Archaeologia Aeliana, 5th series, vol. 49

An archaeological excavation covering 5.2ha of land was carried out by Headland Archaeology in advance of a proposed extension to Brenkley Lane Surface Mine, Tyne and Wear. The excavation revealed archaeological features representing three broad phases of Iron Age occupation. The first of these was an unenclosed settlement centred on a palisaded enclosure. This was subsequently transformed into a substantial enclosed settlement with the construction of a series of large ditches enclosing several roundhouses. At least some of the ditches were eventually backfilled returning the site to a more open settlement with further evidence of occupation. The artefact assemblage suggests this settlement activity continued into the early Roman period.

This contribution is the follow-up of a paper published in Britannia (2018) which has re-argued the case for an earlier start of the building of Hadrian’s Wall, well before the imperial visit of AD 122. What issued from Hadrian’s inspection, it is argued, was not so much the inauguration, but a drastic revision of the Wall project. The most incisive change was the implantation of a dozen forts on the line of the Wall, soon followed by the decision to narrow its width. This invites renewed examination of what had been built on the eve of ‘dislocation’ and how the ‘fort decision’ impacted on what followed. Of particular interest is the question where the Wall’s fortified gateways, the milecastles, belong in the structural sequence. The concept of path-dependency is used to contextualise another novelty of the Wall, the Vallum. The priority accorded to this back-up earthwork seems to have markedly decelerated the initial project of the mural barrier. A security crisis, possibly fuelled by the measures of AD 122 and answered by the expeditio Britannica, may have led to a complete cessation in the mid-120s. Major work, both on the forts and the mural barrier, was still in progress in the 130s. This paper addresses several long-standing Wall problems, resulting in a revised chronology for the building of this megastructure which was probably still incomplete when its principal died in 138. The proposed pathway places Hadrian’s Wall more centrally in the mainstream of frontier development and sheds a fascinating light on the making of a military megaproject in the Roman imperial context.

Boundary descriptions written in legal agreements and charters of the 13th century involving the lords of Rothbury, the Merlay barons of Morpeth and Newminster Abbey are analysed and their courses are here mapped for the first time. It is argued from this analysis that the Merlays and the Newminster abbots under their patronage had during the 12th century encroached on to lands within Rothbury Forest. Legal proceedings in the 13th century restored the Rothbury boundaries.

The purpose of this short article is to provide an account of six, worked building stones recovered during excavation in Berwick-upon-Tweed, in the period from March to June 2016. At least three of the stones come from important medieval buildings, and as such they are of some value for our generally poor grasp of the town’s pre-Reformation architecture. A few ideas about their origins are offered at the end of the article, but the stones are published here mainly on the principle that anything which contributes to knowledge of Berwick’s early status as a great trading port, dense with buildings that have now completely vanished, deserves to be advertised.

A length of waggonway was excavated and recorded at Newbottle, Tyne and Wear. The waggonway fabric had been recycled following decommissioning, but the remains indicate that it had originally consisted of one line of wooden sleepers directly overlying the natural ground surface, with rails above. Clay and stone ballast filled the gaps between the sleepers. The waggonway had a gauge of 1.22m (4ft 0in). A drainage ditch was present on each side; there was a second later ditch on the east side. The remains are thought to be a previously unrecorded part of the original line of the Newbottle waggonway, serving pits to the south. It is thought to date to the mid-18th century. Cartographic evidence shows it was decommissioned and dismantled by 1817 at the latest. The Newbottle waggonway was extensively remodelled in 1812, but no indications of any alterations were identified in the excavated section, suggesting that closure predated this remodelling.

The possibility that an apple tree in the former vicarage garden at Stamfordham is a descendant of the twigs taken from the apple tree at Denton in 1845 by the Rev. J. F. Bigge is considered.