ANCIENT EARTHWORKS 



Tumuli, Barrows, etc. 



Chester-le-Street : Fox Park, Beamish. — The mound is low with a 

 very gentle slope ; it occupies a fine position, and the levels fall quickly to 

 the east towards the Red burn, and to the north and south. There is also a 

 slight slope to the west. 



CoNiscLiFFE. — There is a tumulus here at High Coniscliffe. 



Dalton-le-Dale : Croup Hill. — A low mound, wide and flat, a few 

 stones are to be seen on it. It stands in a prominent position, the ground 

 sloping down from it on all sides exxept the north. 



Durham : Maiden Bower. — A small circular mound, on the southern 

 slope of a narrow valley west of the viaduct adjoining the railway station. 

 Owing to the steep slope of the ground, the top of the mound is nearly 

 30 feet above the natural level on the north side, and less than 20 feet above 

 it on the south. It has a terrace at 6 feet below the top, and is approached 

 from the south-west by a ridge which dies into the slope of the valley as it 

 rises southward. The position is commanded at close range by high ground 

 on the west, south, and east, while on the north the levels fall quickly to a 

 small stream about 200 yards distant, in the bottom of the valley. 



Houghton-le-Spring : Copt Hill. — A mound overgrown with trees, 

 commanding a wide view to west and south, the ground falling rapidly in both 

 directions. It is overlooked by high ground on the east. 



Houghton-le-Spring : Maiden Hill, Hetton-le-Hole. — This mound 

 is now destroyed. 



Hunstanworth. — There is a barrow here, also a mound or tumulus in 

 Nuckton East Park. 



Middleton-in-Teesdale : Hempstone Knoll. — The remains of the 

 ' Knoll,' a circular mound about 5 feet high, stand to the north of the Bell 

 Sike, overlooked by higher ground on north, south, and west. About i 50 yards 

 away to the north, and at a considerably higher level, commanding a fine 

 view of the Tees valley, is the site of a circle of standing stones, now all 

 removed. 



Ryton. — There is a tumulus, about 20 feet high, in a wood north of 

 the church, and another existed near Bradley Hall. 



Old writers mention other barrows and tumuli, mostly long since 

 destroyed. For example — ^John Cade, writing at the end of the eighteenth 

 century, refers to ' many barrows ' in the park at Witton Castle.^ Hutchinson 

 mentions a barrow ' now very conspicuous ' at Aykley Heads, near Durham, 

 and tumuli at Ravensworth, Maiden Law, near Lanchester, and on Brandon 

 Hill, Brancepeth.' 



We desire to express our obligations to Canon Greenwell and Mr. 

 Edward Wooler of Darlington for much valuable information respecting 

 the earthworks of the county. 



1 Arch. ix. 1789. ' Hist, and Ant. of County of Durham, ii. and iii. 1794.. 



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