Land at Willowburn (Phase 4), Whinney Hill Farm, Northumberland: Post-Excavation Assessment Report

The SMR excavation was undertaken in the north-east corner of Field 2 as part of the Phase 4 development. This area covered 1.36 hectares. Work was undertaken between the 18th September 2023 to 30th February 2024. The SMR area was reduced using a 20-tonne mechanical excavator utilising a toothless ditching bucket. The machine carefully excavated through deposits until either the first significant archaeological horizon or superficial geology was reached. All ground reduction was carried out under archaeological supervision. Archaeological remains attributed to the Iron Age have been grouped within Phase 2. These remains comprised a boundary ditch G1 and three roundhouses (Roundhouses 1, 3, and 4). Dating evidence was only recovered from the silted-up ditch G1 that contained a single sherd of a handmade jar of probable Iron Age date. The pottery specialist has commented that the fabric would not be out of place in any Iron Age pottery assemblage from the region with the rhyolite and dolerite inclusions having been freely available in the local drift geology deposits. The internal and external surfaces of the fabric had been wiped and smoothed and there is also some possible burnt residue adhering to the inner face of the vessel. Due to the proximity of the roundhouses with the ditch, they are likely contemporary. The ditch itself conceivably represents part of a larger enclosure that crosses the site. The roundhouses were all heavily truncated either by ploughing or unmonitored plant movement. Roundhouses 1, 3, and 4 all showed signs of prolonged use which was evident by their recut ring ditches. The original ring ditch in both Roundhouses 1 and 4 was mostly destroyed when the feature was recut, although the original ring ditch for Roundhouse 3 was slightly larger than its later recut. As there was no direct stratigraphic relationship between the two ring ditches of Roundhouse 3 it is unclear if one represented the recut of the other, if they were both contemporary, or whether one represented the remains of an additional roundhouse that has only partially survived. Structural features within the confines of the drainage ring ditch comprised a wall slot in both Roundhouses 1 and 3 (that both had postholes/stakeholes within the base of the feature) and an internal posthole within the entrance doorway in Roundhouse 1, however no features survived within the interior of Roundhouses 4's ring ditch. All roundhouses within Phase 2 featured an eastern fronting entrance which is a common attribute of prehistoric roundhouses. A single roundhouse (Roundhouse 2) was placed within Phase 3 that has tentatively been placed within the Iron Age however it should be considered that the site may have continued well into the first few centuries AD and may represent a native Romano-British dwelling. All that survived was the outer ring ditch with no internal features being present. Although no dating material was recovered from the silted-up ring ditch, the feature was noted to cut into the remains of Roundhouse 3 so was clearly later in origin. A single charred hazelnut fragment was observed within the environmental samples from the fill of Roundhouse 4's ring ditch which could be used to gain a radiocarbon date for the feature. Unusually the ring-ditch had an NNE facing entrance which differed from Roundhouse 1, 3, and 4's eastern entrance. The Whinney Hill Farm roundhouses are typical of those found on the Northumberland Coastal Plain dating to the Iron Age. These consist of an outer ring ditch (commonly referred to as a drip gully) that would have presumably collected rainwater from the roof of the roundhouse to prevent the structural elements getting waterlogged that would have led to rot. These are the most common remains that survive of roundhouses across the region and are often all that survives of the structure.