A HISTORY OF DURHAM 



Brandon. — An interment was discovered here in 1904. It was contained in a stone cist sunk 

 beneath the surface, but with no mound over, and accompanied by a ' Drinking Cup.' 



Hetton.' — Formerly there was a cairn of stones here with a hollow on the top, from which 

 circumstance apparently the mound received its popular name ' Fairies' Castle.' When the 

 mound was removed, many years since, a vessel of pottery was found, which has not been 

 preserved. The description seems to suggest that the barrow was of the bronze age. 



Houghton le Spring. — At Copt HilP there is now a round barrow, which was probably at first of 

 a long form. In addition to the neolithic interments there were subsequent burials, one of 

 which, a burnt body deposited in a cinerary urn with a flint implement, indicated a burial 

 of the bronze age. There are also two or three barrows in the neighbourhood of Houghton 

 le Spring. 



HuMBLETON HiLL. — Three cinerary urns were found here during the work of enlarging the reservoir 

 in 1879. One urn bears an uncommon ornament, a raised zig-zag band upon the overhanging 

 rim. The urns are preserved in the museum at Sunderland. 



Ryton, Bradley Hall.^ — A skeleton was found in a cist here under a large barrow. Another 

 large barrow near Ryton Church remains unopened. 



Sacriston.* — A cist burial was found here in 1888 which consisted of four slabs of stone set on 

 edge and sunk beneath the surface of the ground, the cover, a larger stone, was on the level of 

 the natural surface. The cist was 3 feet 10 inches long, 2 feet deep, 2 feet wide, and lay almost 

 in a due east and west direction. Inside there were some much decayed unburnt bones and a 

 vessel of pottery known as a ' Drinking Cup.' This vessel is 6f inches in height, 5^ inches 

 wide at the mouth, 5f inches at the middle, and 3f at the bottom. It has been hand-made 

 without the assistance of the wheel, and bears a good deal of ornament in the form of hori- 

 zontal lines, and bands filled with lines of dots arranged in alternating oblique rows. Towards 

 the lower part of the vessel there are two bands made up of the same kind of dots arranged in 

 rows which cross each other obliquely, producing a number of lozenge or quarry-shape 

 spaces. 



Sherburn.^ — A short cist with an unburnt body. 



South Shields.^ — At the Trow Rocks, Westoe, South Shields, a barrow was found placed almost 

 on the edge of the magnesian limestone clifF overhanging the sea. The barrow, which was 

 30 feet in diameter and 3 feet high, was constructed of earth with which some stones were 

 intermixed. The cist, which consisted of six stones set on edge, two on each side and one at 

 end, with two cover-stones, was placed in the centre of the barrow. It contained the much 

 decayed skeleton of a man, some pieces of charcoal, and a flint knife formed of an outside flake, 

 but carefully chipped along the two edges. 



Steeple Hill,'' situated one mile from Tunstall. — In 1876 a cist interment was found here. 

 The cist, constructed of four whinstone boulders, was 4 feet long, 2^ feet wide, and slightly 

 less than 2^ feet deep. It had been sunk to some extent in a natural mound, to which soil 

 had been added to increase its size. Within the cist was a skeleton of a man, past middle life, 

 laid in a contracted position. The ' food vessels ' had been deposited close to the chest of the 

 man, and with them were found some few of the burnt bones of a child under twelve years of 

 age. One of the urns or food vessels was 5J inches high and the other was 4^ inches high. 

 Both are ornamented on the outside. A second skeleton, that of a woman past middle life, 

 was found about three feet to the west of the cist. Round the body some stones had been 

 placed, but not in regular order as in the case of the cist. 



Stone Bridge near Durham. — About five years ago two cinerary urns containing burnt bones 

 were found in this neighbourhood. There was no barrow. They are somewhat roughly 

 made, but of the ordinary form and ornamentation. There was also an ' incense cup.' 



Tunstall Hill.^ — In 18 14 some urns believed to be of the bronze age, and accompanied by or 

 containing burnt bones, were found at this place, a hill near Sunderland. 



From the particulars given above, it seems probable that the county of 

 Durham was inhabited throughout all the time covered by the bronze age, 

 as ol)jects representative of this period from its beginning to its close have 

 been found ; the occupation appears to have been partial, and the population 

 small. 



' Trans, of the Anhit. and Arch. Soc. of Durham and Northumh. ill. 1 84, and Surtccs, Hist, of Durham. 



9 Trani. of the Archit. and Arch. Soc. of Durham and Norlhumb. iii. 184. 



» Britiih narrows, p. 442. * Trans. Archit. and Arch. Soc. of Durham, iii. 186. 



' British Barrows, p. 442. " Op. cit. p. 442. Gr.ivc No. ccxv. 



1 Op. cit. pp. 441-2. 8 Op. cit. p. 440. 



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