1 



A HISTORY OF DURHAM 



the Nevilles, East and West Parks referred to, and that they were bounded 

 by a pale, and ditch on the outside 2 yards broad, and that deer and wild 

 cattle were kept in these enclosures. It is therefore possible that the 

 earthworks may have been the West Park (2J miles from Brancepeth 

 Castle).' > 



Mr. Wooler's further examinations of the spot lead him to conclude that 

 the enclosure was originally an ancient British stronghold, and indeed the 

 vast amount of labour expended on raising the banks seems to suggest that 

 the work was a defence in very early days ; but it is quite probable that the 

 western rampart, extending the whole length on that side, is far older than 

 the other embankments of the southern portion. The latter may have been 

 the work referred to as an enclosure for deer and wild cattle in the sixteenth 

 century, but it seems small for such a purpose. In the absence of the evidence 

 which excavation alone affords, nothing definite can be said as to the age of the 

 southern enclosure, but probably the long western rampart and fosse defended a 

 British fortress of the promontory type. It is curious that though the entrench- 

 ment on the western side is shown on one of Maclauchlan's beautiful plates 

 there is no mention of the ' camp ' in the accompanying Memoir^ nor, so far as 

 we can discover, has it been noticed by any previous writers on the antiquities 

 of the county. Though its eastern extremity is within 2,000 feet of the site 



of Watling Street, it cannot be supposed that its 



«v.,,,,. ^ , -y-' - .r ■- existence had any relation to that great road. 



|^a#;(ji%K... ^-i£:^ Durham : Maiden Castle. — This is a lofty 



promontory or great natural strength, to the east 

 of the city, and approached from the west side. 

 wM The north, south, and east slopes are very steep, 

 |^'-^,«^/SftWi!!®ri^|f|^^^ especially the last, which rises about loo feet 

 "'^i^^^^^--'^^^^""^"''''"^ above the river Wear. On these three sides there 



Maiden Castle, Durham. are little traces of any artificial defences, but on 



the west a bank and fosse have been made across 

 tlie neck of land by which the position is approached, the fosse, now nearly 

 obliterated, being some 70 to 80 feet west of the bank. The whole site 

 is overgrown with trees, and the area enclosed by the bank and ditch shows 

 no signs of additional earthworks beyond some slight indications of a bank 

 around the site, on the edge of the natural escarpment. 



HILL FORTS, &c. 

 [Class B] 



Bishop Auckland : Toft Hill. On the plateau here we find traces 



of entrenchments, but in so broken a condition that it is difficult to say more 

 than that a fortress of considerable strength once existed. Bailey, writing 

 in 1779, said that one side of the camp was 140 yards in length." 



North Bedburn : The Castles. A rectangular enclosure measuring 

 260 feet north to south by 200 feet east to west, surrounded by a rampart 



1 The forfeiture referred to was the result of the imprudence of Charles Neville, the sixth earl, in joining 

 the ' RisinR of the North ' in 1 569. 



» Matlauthlan, Suivcy of the Watling Street, 1852. ' ^ntij. Repertory, iii. 17 So. 



348 



