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<< Our Photo Pages >> The Kettles (Wooler) - Hillfort in England in Northumberland

Submitted by Anne T on Monday, 31 July 2017  Page Views: 2818

Iron Age and Later PrehistorySite Name: The Kettles (Wooler) Alternative Name: Maiden Castle (Wooler); Cauterdale; Greenside Camp (Wooler); Kenterdale Hill (Wooler)
Country: England County: Northumberland Type: Hillfort
Nearest Town: Wooler
Map Ref: NT98472730
Latitude: 55.539416N  Longitude: 2.025801W
Condition:
5Perfect
4Almost Perfect
3Reasonable but with some damage
2Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site
1Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks
0No data.
-1Completely destroyed
2 Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
4 Access:
5Can be driven to, probably with disabled access
4Short walk on a footpath
3Requiring a bit more of a walk
2A long walk
1In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find
0No data.
4 Accuracy:
5co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates
4co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map
3co-ordinates scaled from a bad map
2co-ordinates of the nearest village
1co-ordinates of the nearest town
0no data
5

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Anne T visited on 30th Jul 2017 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 5 Access: 4 The Kettles Hillfort, Wooler: From Green Castle, we continued along the track leading first south west up the small hill, then turns south east along the top of the promontory. Our GPS told me there was just over 511 metres to walk from the small parking area to the grid reference given by Pastscape, but it seemed a lot less than this. The paths are well kept, as on the Breamish Valley trails, with low, mown grass which is soft underfoot and easy to walk. As we walked along the promontory, the northern section of ramparts came into view. As we got closer, it became obvious how large these were. Paths lead up into round the exterior edges of the hillfort. There are bracken and scree covered valleys on either side. The first thing we came across were some strange concrete blocks and what looked like the tiled remains of an old toilet at approx. NT 98398 27352, but then there are the recorded remains of pillboxes in this area, so must have been used for military training during the last war. As we walked along, we crossed three distinct banks which had been cut by the paths, which are the three ramparts (in places four) that cut the fort into two. Walking past the fourth rampart, it felt as it had on Little Hill in the Scottish Borders, as if I was on the prow of a ship looking down across the land below. Crossing to the eastern side of the fort, at this point, we were almost directly above Maiden Well and the King’s Chair. To reach these, we would have need climbing equipment to abseil down, so we walked back to the car and drove round to the path leading to The Pin Well. Looking at the aerial images on UK Grid Reference Finder, the outline of the fort is clearly visible.

The Kettles (Wooler)
The Kettles (Wooler) submitted by Anne T : Getting closer to the rampart and ditch on the north western edge of the hillfort. The banks stand really tall, with steep sides, with an earth and stone construction. (Vote or comment on this photo)
Hillfort in Northumberland

This hillfort, known as The Kettles, Maiden Castle, Greenside Camp, Kenterdale Hill or Cauterdale, encloses around 4.5 acres, is an Iron Age fort taking advantage of a natural promontory on the eastern slope of Kenterdale Hill, which lies not quite 1 mile west of Wooler. It was later adapted as a Romano-British enclosed settlement. It is recorded as both Pastscape Monument No. 2671 and Historic England ID 1006530.

The Historic England entry says the hillfort: "has steep natural slopes to the south, east and north east with more gradual slopes in other directions. The enclosure is irregularly-shaped, reflecting the local topography, and is separated into two parts by triple ramparts which run perpendicular to its long north west to south east axis and have an entrance in their centre allowing access between the two parts. The north west portion of the enclosure measures approximately 108m by 100m and the south east portion is roughly 70m by 88m. The enclosure is surrounded by earthworks, which comprise a single rampart in areas where the slope is naturally steep. To the north, where the approach is easier, the rampart is strengthened by a single-scarped bank and an additional outer rampart. There is a small annexe at the south west tip of the monument with a main entrance on the north side. The interior of the south east portion of the enclosure is divided by low earthworks. The complex form of the earthwork is understood to partially be the result of later Romano-British reoccupation and elaboration."

Pastscape adds: "the ground, which forms a promontory, (is) cut off at the isthmus by three, and in a part by four, ramparts. These are formed of earth and stones where the defences of the cliff are not sufficient. The south-east end of the promontory is defended by an additional rampart across the part where the slope is least; and at this spot is a narrow opening in the ramparts which led down to the seat-like rock called the King's Chair, and to the spring below, called the Kettle, or Cattle Well."

The complex layout of the site can be clearly seen either using UK Grid Reference Finder or Google Earth.

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The Kettles (Wooler)
The Kettles (Wooler) submitted by Zooks777 : This an enhancement of lidar data captured by the Environment Agency in 2020, showing The Kettles and an enclosed 'homestead'. Essentially lidar is very high resolution terrain elevation data - 1 metre (x,y) and about 5 cm (z - elevation). This image is a simulation of solar shading from the north. An interpretation of features ius shown at left on the OS 1:10,000 map. (Vote or comment on this photo)

The Kettles (Wooler)
The Kettles (Wooler) submitted by Anne T : Standing on the footpath to the north eastern side of the hillfort, looking up at the enormous earthwork forming it's north western side. (Vote or comment on this photo)

The Kettles (Wooler)
The Kettles (Wooler) submitted by Anne T : Standing on the western side of the fort, looking northwards up the valley below. It has steep sides, which provide natural defences. (Vote or comment on this photo)

The Kettles (Wooler)
The Kettles (Wooler) submitted by Anne T : This is The Kettles south eastern side as seen from Maiden Well and King's Chair below. (Vote or comment on this photo)

The Kettles (Wooler)
The Kettles (Wooler) submitted by Anne T : Two thirds of the way along the hillfort (travelling to its south), there are three (and in one place four) low ramparts which cut west-east across the body of the fort. These are now cut across by the current footpaths around the structure. (Vote or comment on this photo)

The Kettles (Wooler)
The Kettles (Wooler) submitted by Anne T : Walking past the low ramparts onto the south eastern part of the fort, it's like being on the prow of a ship, looking down to the plains below.

The Kettles (Wooler)
The Kettles (Wooler) submitted by Anne T : Walking up the slope into the body of the hillfort, the first thing we noticed was these peculiar stone blocks sunk into the earth, together with a white tiled square hole (which looked like the remains on an old toilet). As there are pill boxes recorded in this area, I can only assume the fort was used for army practice in the last war.

The Kettles (Wooler)
The Kettles (Wooler) submitted by Anne T : First view of The Kettles, approaching it from the track that comes across Wooler Common from Green Castle Ringwork.

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Nearby sites listing. In the following links * = Image available
 264m SSE 159° Maiden Well (Kettle Hill)* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (NT9856427053)
 291m SE 138° Maiden Well (Northumberland) Holy Well or Sacred Spring (NT9866427082)
 624m NNW 332° Green Castle Ringwork* Misc. Earthwork (NT9818027853)
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 901m NW 316° Green Castle 1 Rock Art (NT9784227949)
 1.1km N 1° Highburn House 1 Rock Art (NT9849128424)
 1.2km NE 46° Wooler Cottage Wall Rock Art (NT993281)
 1.4km NNE 20° Tankerville Arms Hotel Cist* Cist (NT9894328604)
 1.4km NNE 22° Tankerville Arms Cist* Cist (NT990286)
 2.0km WNW 298° Humbleton Hill* Hillfort (NT9670628252)
 2.1km SW 232° Hart Heugh* Stone Circle (NT968260)
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 2.5km ENE 78° Coldmartin 3 Rock Art (NU0095827816)
 2.6km ENE 78° Coldmartin 2* Rock Art (NU0097627830)
 2.6km ENE 73° Coldmartin 4* Rock Art (NU0100628049)
 2.7km ENE 74° Coldmartin 1* Rock Art (NU0103428019)
 2.7km NW 323° Bendor Stone* Standing Stone (Menhir) (NT9681929460)
 2.7km SSW 208° Carey Burn (Harthope Valley)* Ancient Village or Settlement (NT97172491)
 2.8km NE 38° Weetwood Bridge Portable Rock Art (NU0018029500)
 3.0km ENE 70° Weetwood Moor North ab, ad & ae Rock Art (NU0130028300)
 3.0km ENE 79° Whitsunbank 1b* Rock Art (NU0143827898)
 3.0km ENE 78° Whitsunbank 1a* Rock Art (NU0143827909)
 3.0km ENE 70° Weetwood Moor North B* Rock Art (NU0132028328)
 3.0km ENE 70° Weetwood Moor North C Rock Art (NU0132628329)
 3.0km ENE 70° Weetwood Moor North aa Rock Art (NU0132628334)
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