Shaftoe Crags Settlement is an archaeological site in Northumberland, England, about 8 miles (13 km) west of Morpeth. The site at Shaftoe Crags, with remains dating from the Iron Age and Romano-British periods, is a scheduled monument.
In Cumbria and Northumberland, native settlements regarded as dating from the Roman period have been found: such a site typically has one or more stone roundhouses at the back of an enclosure, opposite a single entrance, with small enclosed yards within the enclosure.
An earlier type of defended settlement began to be constructed during the 7th to 5th centuries BC, in the northern uplands of what is now England, sometimes located on hilltops. Within the enclosure there would be a number of stone or timber roundhouses for the inhabitants, probably a single family group, and perhaps space to keep livestock in winter.
There is a curving rampart of stone and earth, about 7 metres (23 ft) wide and up to 1 metre (3 ft 3 in) high, running south-east from Salters Nick. It forms, with natural defences of crags to the south, west and north, an enclosure of irregular shape, about 70 metres (230 ft) north-east to south-west and 48 metres (157 ft) north-west to south-east. This is a native defended settlement of the Roman period. Inside the enclosure are the remains of three or more stone roundhouses, diameter about 9 metres (30 ft).
There are indications of an enclosing rampart of an earlier Iron Age settlement, within which the Romano-British settlement was built. Any roundhouses from this period are obscured by the later buildings.
Huckhoe Settlement, an Iron Age and Romano-British defended settlement
Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →
Shaftoe Crags Settlement is an archaeological site in Northumberland, England, about 8 miles (13 km) west of Morpeth. It is recorded in the Pleiades gazetteer of ancient places as a settlement site from the Roman period in Britain.
Romano-British settlement and Iron Age defended settlement, 550m north east of Shaftoe Grange is classified as a Roman settlement — a civilian site in the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer. Roman Britain's archaeology encompasses thousands of sites ranging from legionary fortresses and marching camps to villas, temples and towns.
Several Roman sites lie within a short distance, including Huckhoe palisaded enclosure, defended settlement and Romano-British settlement, 550m north east of Bolam West Houses (1.9 km), Romano-British farmstead 470m north of Coldwell (7.3 km), Romano-British farmstead and associated annexe, 180m SSE of Herpath House (7.6 km). Aubrey Research maps over 2,200 Roman sites across Britain, drawn from the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer.
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This page covers the Roman site at Romano-British settlement and Iron Age defended settlement, 550m north east of Shaftoe Grange. A full Aubrey report for the area pulls together this site alongside scheduled monuments and everything else the record holds within a few miles:
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