Scheduled MonumentsEnglandCastle Steads camp

Castle Steads camp

England
List entry 1002356
Nation
England
The designation
Reference
List entry 1002356
Authority
Historic England (NHLE)
Status
Scheduled Monument
Scheduled area
5.16 hectares
Grid reference
NZ 17805 42745
Boundary

Scheduled area

© Mapbox · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Boundary data © Historic England (NHLE)

Overview

History & significance

Castle Steads camp is a Iron Age hillfort situated in County Durham, northern England. The site occupies a defensive position with evidence of multiple phases of occupation and fortification characteristic of the Iron Age period. The earthworks comprise substantial banks and ditches that once enclosed an elevated area suitable for settlement and stock management. Though fragmentary in places, the surviving defensive structures demonstrate the strategic importance of the location during prehistoric times in the north-eastern British landscape.

Castle Steads camp is a scheduled monument protected by Historic England under reference 1002356. View the official record →

About this monument

Questions & answers

What is Castle Steads camp?

Castle Steads camp is a Iron Age hillfort situated in County Durham, northern England. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic England (NHLE) under reference 1002356.

Who is responsible for protecting Castle Steads camp?

Castle Steads camp is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by Historic England (NHLE) — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in England. The official designation reference is 1002356.

What other scheduled monuments are near Castle Steads camp?

Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Esh Cross 150m north of Esh Hall (2.3 km), Hedleyhill Colliery coke works, 500m south west of Hazlet House (2.4 km), Lanchester Roman fort (Longovicium) (4 km).

Unlimited access

Everything a full report reveals about Castle Steads camp

This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 15 strands of Castle Steads camp's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:

Overview
An interactive map of the location with every monument and battle plotted, and a plain-language history built only from what the record holds.
Monuments
The legally protected scheduled monuments around the location, each with its period, type and significance.
Battlefields
The battles and sieges fought on this ground, mapped and set on a timeline of the wider conflict.
Roman Britain
The Roman roads, forts and towns near here, and the Iron Age people who held the land before Rome arrived.
Domesday
The settlement's entry in the 1086 Domesday Book: who held it, what it was worth, and the people who worked the land.
Civil War
The Civil War fighting, garrisons and recorded militaria in this area, woven into the arc of 1642 to 1651.
Geology
The bedrock beneath the site, its age and rock type, reaching back hundreds of millions of years.
LiDAR
Laser-scanned terrain that reveals earthworks hidden under fields and woodland, with likely features flagged.
Local Names
What the street and field names around here actually mean, and the history buried inside them.
Historical Maps
Ordnance Survey maps from the 1800s, layered over the location as it stands today.
Literature
The books, county histories, charters and archives that mention this place, quoted with their sources.
Legal
The protected sites nearby and the metal-detecting, access and treasure laws that apply to this ground.
Spotlight
A deep dive into the most remarkable, lesser-known history of the place, traced back to the record.
Target Zones
For detectorists: the most promising ground to search nearby, ranked by confidence, with what to expect.
Timeline
The whole story of the location told era by era, from prehistory to the present day.
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The ground beneath

The bedrock under Castle Steads camp

Castle Steads camp stands on Pennine Lower Coal Measures Formation And South Wales Lower Coal Measures Formation (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Westphalian. The rock here is mudstone, siltstone, sandstone, coal, ironstone and ferricrete.