Hall Hills

Description

The earthworks and buried remains of Hall Hills medieval dispersed settlement. It is located on a local high point overlooking the confluence of Hall Sike and Kirk Beck, 370 metres WNW of St Cuthbert's Church, and includes a partly mutilated platform upon which lie the turf-covered remains of a small stone-built house, and enclosure and a small building platform. The house measures 12 metres square externally with walls circa 2 metres wide and up to 0.3 metres high, and is flanked by a shallow ditch on its south and west sides. To the east of the house there is a rectangular enclosure interpreted as a stock enclosure measuring 17.5 metres by 15 metres. On the enclosures southern side there are faint traces of a low platform measuring 9 metres by 4 metres and up to 0.1 metre high which is interpreted as the site of a timber outbuilding. Scheduled. The thickness of the walling suggests it was pele tower. (PastScape)

Despite some slight damage by later ploughing and quarrying to the platform on which the monuments is located, Hall Hills medieval dispersed settlement survives reasonably well and will retain significant archaeological deposits. It is a good example of this class of monument located in the Border Region and will add to our understanding of the wider border settlement and economy during the medieval period.
The monument includes the earthworks and buried remains of Hall Hills medieval dispersed settlement. It is located on a local high point overlooking the confluence of Hall Sike and Kirk Beck, 370m WNW of St Cuthbert's Church, and includes a partly mutilated platform upon which lie the turf-covered remains of a stone-built house, an enclosure and a small building platform. The house measures approximately 12m square externally with walls c.2m wide and up to 0.3m high, and is flanked by a shallow ditch on its south and west sides. Immediately to the east of the house there is a rectangular enclosure interpreted as a stock enclosure measuring 17.5m by 15m which has been subdivided into two by a low wall or bank. On the enclosure's southern side there are faint traces of a low platform measuring 9m by 4m and up to 0.1m high which is interpreted as the site of a timber outbuilding. All fence posts are excluded from the scheduling, although the ground beneath them is included. (Scheduling Report)

Comments

Although seemingly suggested as a gentry status tower house for a junior member of "the family settled at Bewcastle,- hence the place is called the Hallhills" (Maughan) it may be the placename just suggests demense land and the 'tower' represents a steward house of a chamber over byre type, common in this area, although the 12m square form and 2m thick walls does seem to suggest a small tower.