(Village centred NT 78940852) (Chapel at NT 78940852). (1)
Among the Roman camps at Chew Green are mediaeval garths and the site of a wayside chapel excavated by Mr C C Hodges in 1883. The name of the place in the earlier Middle Ages is not known although Kelso Abbey owned pastures and tithes in Redesdale (grant of pasturage dated 1227, but tithes much older). The village had grown up and decayed by 1550 when the place was known as 'Kemylpethe'.
The medieval garths overlie and obscure the Roman work. Excavations in 1936 revealed medieval sherds, most from the garths and chapel. They fall roughly within the period AD 1250-1450. (For reproduction of plan see Northum 31 SW 3).
About 40 years ago (c.1883) excavations at Chew Green revealed the foundations of a small stone building in the middle of the East Fort (Permanent fortlet V). Mr C Hodges came to the conclusion that it had been a mediaeval chapel. Some years later (1889) a shepherd, Thomas Glendinning, found a small cross with pointed arms to the north east of this spot and near the Roman road. Mr Hodges thought the cross may have been on a gable of the chapel but Mr Dixon thinks it was perhaps one of the boundary crosses of the liberties of the monks of Kelso.
Traces of later (than Roman) settlement can be seen on the slopes descending to the Coquet. They were possibly enclosed grazing grounds. The foundations of four houses can be seen between the north camp (North Marching Camp III) and the Roman Road. (2)
Visible on aerial photograph. (3)
A small sandstone cross found about 20 inches below the surface at a point about 20 yards from the Chew Green and 40-50 yards from the excavations (of c.1883 referred to in authority 2) on the north east side of the camp. The cross, which may have been a boundary cross has pointed arms. Within the arms a smaller cross is inscribed. It was presented to the Museum of the Society of Antiquaries, Newcastle, by Captain J R Carr-Ellison. (4)
A survey of 1550 refers to Kemylpethe and houses built in times past called Kemylspethe Walls. (5)
A Kemblepath is referred to in 1456. (6)
Centred NT 78940852. The remains are typical of deserted medieval villages in Northumberland, with earth banks forming enclosures and garths. In some cases the banks follow the line of the Roman works or cross and mutilate them. Four building steadings could. be certainly identified with banks of earth and stone representing the foundations. Other vaguer enclosures and platforms may also represent the remains of dwellings.
NT 78940852 The remains of the chapel referred to by authorities (1) and (2) consists of a rectangular foundation measuring 18m x 9m and oriented south west-north east. It is bounded by a bank of earth and large undressed stones 2m to 3m wide with a maximum height of 1m. There is no trace of any dressed masonry. The interior of the building is badly disturbed and no features could be identified. The present location of the pottery referred to by authority 1 was
not ascertained. (7)
Correctly published on 6 inch. (8)
(Subsequently published) Village of Kemylpethe (site of) and Chapel (remains of). (9)
These remains are as described in the report of 9/5/57. Published survey (1:10,000) correct. (10)
Medieval settlement and chapel at Chew Green. Part of national monument number 28538, scheduling revised on 24th September 1997. The monument includes the remains of two temporary camps, two Roman fortlets, a Roman fort, a section of Dere Street (NT 70 NE 3) and a deserted settlement and chapel of medieval date, situated on a narrow, near level spur on the left bank of the River Coquet.
Situated between and, in some areas, overlying the Roman camps and forts at Chew Green, are the remains of a deserted medieval settlement including a medieval chapel. Areas of the settlement were uncovered during the part excavation of Roman features in 1936-7; medieval pottery of broadly 13th to 15th century date was also recovered. The remains of this settlement are visible as a series of rectangular platforms which are thought to have contained rectangular buildings and smaller garths up to 0.5m high, many of which are thought to have functioned as stock pens. A larger enclosure bounded by high banks and clearly part of the settlement is situated alongside the River Coquet.
A rectangular building situated in the centre of the semi-permanent fortlet was excavated in 1883 and was interpreted as a small Norman chapel. It measures 18m by 9m and its walls stand to a height of 1m. In 1889 the discovery of a stone cross near the chapel by a local shepherd lends support to the interpretation of this building, although the exact provenance of the cross is unknown. The cross is now held in the Museum of the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne.
Documents attest to the importance of the site as a resting place for travellers and drovers crossing the hills into and out of Scotland and as early as 1249 it was established as a location for the formal settlement of cross border criminal cases. By 1550 the medieval settlement at Chew Green was known as Kemylpeth when it was named in a survey and an earlier document of 1456 refers to a Kemblepath.
The continued use of Dere Street as a major medieval thoroughfare and the development of a medieval settlement and the construction of a chapel will contribute to our understanding of post-Roman settlement in the region. (11)