Iron Age : Discussion

It is clear that by the mid-first millennium, that a substantial, permanently settled population was well established in the Cheviots and the Glen Valley, as construction of the numerous, enclosures, defended settlements and hillforts that emerged at this time would have required significant manpower.

Some larger hillforts, such as Yeavering Bell, are likely to have been permanent settlements though many, such as Staw Hill, seem to be too small in interior area to have housed any substantial population. More likely the majority of the Iron Age upland population would have lived on small farmsteads, much as in preceding times, in roundhouses with adjacent stockyards, perhaps enclosed by a substantial bank or ditch.

The enclosure at NT 907297 may be one such example, though without excavation it cannot be securely dated. There are no instances of this type of settlement that can be certainly attributed to the Iron Age within the Westnewton study area; though Roman stone built settlements such as Mid Hill East Village may have Iron Age origins.