Green Castle Ringwork

Trip No.36  Entry No.1  Date Added: 31st Jul 2017
Site Type: Misc. Earthwork Country: England (Northumberland)
Visited: Yes on 30th Jul 2017. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 3 Access 5

Log Text: Green Castle Ringwork, Wooler: After having stopped off at the ‘usual café’ in Wooler for refreshments, we headed off towards Wooler Common, from the High Street taking Ramsey Lane which becomes Common Road.

At NT 98195 27735 there is a small parking area, where a footpath leads south westerly up and over the Common. From here, the Ringwork looks like part of a giant rubbish tip, with its south and western sides protruding up over the hedgerow like a giant green triangle. Given that to it’s south east there is a huge area for storing skips, it looks at first sight as if the mound is used for a rubbish dump, but it’s not.

There is no access into the field the ringwork sits in (gates are padlocked, and the only gate that opened (immediately opposite the parking area) led down to a wooded area and small ravine.

We actually got a good view of what looks like a ‘Refresher’ sweet by walking up the path towards The Kettles. From here, even the stones in the south western side, where the mound has been eroded, are visible, together with a short section of ditch.

I didn’t spot the telephone wire snaking across the photograph until I loaded it onto my computer.

The Kettles (Wooler)

Trip No.36  Entry No.2  Date Added: 31st Jul 2017
Site Type: Hillfort Country: England (Northumberland)
Visited: Yes on 30th Jul 2017. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 5 Access 4

Log Text: The Kettles Hillfort, Wooler: From Green Castle, we continued along the track leading first south west up the small hill, then turns south east along the top of the promontory. Our GPS told me there was just over 511 metres to walk from the small parking area to the grid reference given by Pastscape, but it seemed a lot less than this.

The paths are well kept, as on the Breamish Valley trails, with low, mown grass which is soft underfoot and easy to walk. As we walked along the promontory, the northern section of ramparts came into view. As we got closer, it became obvious how large these were.

Paths lead up into round the exterior edges of the hillfort. There are bracken and scree covered valleys on either side. The first thing we came across were some strange concrete blocks and what looked like the tiled remains of an old toilet at approx. NT 98398 27352, but then there are the recorded remains of pillboxes in this area, so must have been used for military training during the last war.

As we walked along, we crossed three distinct banks which had been cut by the paths, which are the three ramparts (in places four) that cut the fort into two. Walking past the fourth rampart, it felt as it had on Little Hill in the Scottish Borders, as if I was on the prow of a ship looking down across the land below. Crossing to the eastern side of the fort, at this point, we were almost directly above Maiden Well and the King’s Chair. To reach these, we would have need climbing equipment to abseil down, so we walked back to the car and drove round to the path leading to The Pin Well.

Looking at the aerial images on UK Grid Reference Finder, the outline of the fort is clearly visible.

Maiden Well (Kettle Hill)

Trip No.36  Entry No.3  Date Added: 31st Jul 2017
Site Type: Holy Well or Sacred Spring Country: England (Northumberland)
Visited: Yes on 30th Jul 2017. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 5 Access 4

Log Text: Maiden Well and The King's Chair, Wooler: After having walked round the outer perimeter of the promontory of The Kettles, we’d actually stood just above the site of the Maiden Well (Pin Well), but would have needed a rope and harness to descend the vertical cliff down to it. We walked back to the car, drove back into Wooler, then back out again on the road to the tiny (and ancient) hamlet of Earle.

Where the road splits at NT 99100 26973, we took the western fork (right hand if coming from Wooler) and take the track that runs from NT 98924 26750 to a small quarry. Note: the gate to this road is kept padlocked to prevent people taking vehicles up to the quarry, but there are gates for walkers. Husband Andrew hadn’t spotted the gate, so we ended up climbing the fence into the neighbouring field, then back out again!

Just before the main entrance to the quarry a small (overgrown) footpath leads to your left from NT 98808 26845. We followed this for some 300 metres, the nettles eventually giving way to open ground in a small valley/ravine. We first spotted the King's Chair protruding from the hill in front of you, although I was a bit dubious at first as the stone was hidden by lush, tall bracken growing round it from the rock face. Walking further forward the well is hidden under a hawthorn tree.

The well is in a lovely, enigmatic location. It looks as if someone has recently created this lovely circular ‘halo’ of stone around the clear water. A stone a metre of so to it’s north west has a hole at its base. Glimpsing down, I could see the water running into the well pool.

A small stream runs out of the well pool. The water course is marked by groups of stones leading back towards the entrance to the quarry, on either side of the small stream, which is also marked by lush grass and bracken growing on either side of it. I walked up a little way to look at various groups of stones, to find parts of the ground boggy and heavy with water.

With The Kettles rising up above you to the east, this is a really nice spot. I could have lingered longer, but 4-5 Romano-British settlements called. Time to move on.

Carey Burn (Harthope Valley)

Trip No.36  Entry No.4  Date Added: 31st Jul 2017
Site Type: Ancient Village or Settlement Country: England (Northumberland)
Visited: Yes on 30th Jul 2017. My rating: Condition 1 Ambience 2 Access 4

Log Text: Carey Burn Votadinian settlement, Harthope Valley: After the beautiful Maiden/Pin Well, I got stuck on a 'precipice' above the Coldgate Burn trying to get to the Romano-British settlements to the west of North Middleton and bottled out (my dreaded fear of falling - I've subsequently found the map showed a low level, apparently straightforward footpath from North Middleton, although it was about a mile either way). After this experience, I need to try and regain my composure.

On the map, just across the road from the footpath we’d tried, and just west of Carey Burn Bridge, a track ran up the hill at NT 97513 24937, just above a currently empty barn. A settlement was shown here. An NNPA footpath ran up the hill, so we opened the gate and followed the path up.

We did find the settlement, but it looked as if a fence had recently been installed along the north western bank, crossing over part of it to the eastern side.

A long, low earth and stone bank about 1 metre tall and 2 metres wide ran parallel to the fence from NT 97353 24907 to NT 97301 24938 then curves around to the Carey Burn at NT 97337 25012. This bank can be seen on UK Grid Reference Finder.

On getting home, I discovered from Pastscape that the settlement we looked at was classed as Votadinian. There is a second settlement, which isn’t marked on the map at NT 97132488, which is further up the hill.