Robin of Risingham (Woodburn)

Trip No.33  Entry No.1  Date Added: 10th Jul 2017
Site Type: Carving Country: England (Northumberland)
Visited: Yes on 8th Jul 2017. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: Robin of Risingham, West Woodburn: Our first stop of the day, just south of West Woodburn on the A68. The sun was shining, it was warm and there was barely a breeze apart when the many motorbikes whizzed past at high speed.

Conveniently, there is a layby next to the start of the footpath leading from the A68 to Parkhead Farm at NY 90466 85463. Letting ourselves in through the gate into the field, the view was picturesque with views across the River Rede Valley to the west and pretty sheep and their large lambs.

We were keen to see this as the Historic England entry says this is the only known Roman statue carved from rock in Northumberland.

Making our way to the southern edge of the farm, there was a track leading through the field just to its east, just above their driveway. Following this to the end of the field, there was no way out – no stile, no sign, nothing. We retraced our steps and tried to find a different way past the farm buildings and ended up in a barn with some wonderful horses. In the end, we let ourselves into the farmyard and walked down the driveway, hoping to come across someone so we could ask where the proper path was.

There are some 3 to 4 houses along your left hand side here. Walking past the last one, Robin can be found about 100 metres further along the driveway. Husband Andrew then headed up the short tree covered slope to the wall separating the farm drive from the quarries above and found the carving hidden amongst the trees.

The dappled sunlight coming through the trees made this tricky to photograph. All the literature we’ve read said only the legs remain. We hunted for ages to see if they were on the rock behind the modern replica, or on the surrounding stone walls.

The intention later was to find the Roman Tombs on Otterburn Ranges which weren’t being used for military training this weekend, but we spent so long on other sites that we left this for another day.

Woodburnhill (East Woodburn)

Trip No.33  Entry No.2  Date Added: 10th Jul 2017
Site Type: Ancient Cross Country: England (Northumberland)
Visited: Yes on 8th Jul 2017. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: Cross base near Woodburnhill Farm, Northumberland: Trying to find the footpath near Parkhead Farm to Robin of Risingham, I spotted the ‘cross (rems of)’ on the OS map just outside East Woodburn at Chairford Bridge.

As this wasn’t far away, we decided to explore. Parking at the northern side of the hamlet of Chairford Bridge, opposite the gate and track to Woodburnhill Farm, we let ourselves into the field and walked up towards the farm.

The cross base is sited on a small mound some 150 metres west of the farmhouse, not quite at the top of the hill. There are lovely views back to Chairford Bridge, south over the Lisles Burn valley and north to Darney Crag quarries and Hartside.

The cross base is roughly hewn but the socket is more substantial (larger) than others we’ve seen recently. The cross shaft would have been visible from a good way around.

Having found this spot, there are cairns and enclosures nearby which it would be nice to come back to.

Woodhouse (West Woodburn)

Trip No.33  Entry No.3  Date Added: 10th Jul 2017
Site Type: Cairn Country: England (Northumberland)
Visited: Yes on 8th Jul 2017. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 5

Log Text: Woodhouse Round Cairn and Roman Milestone, Northumberland: How many times have we driven up and down this road and never spotted anything? Today I saw the stone peering above the stone wall to the west of the A68, where the Sandstone Way crosses it.

There was a tumulus marked on the map, so I started to look out for it. “There’s a standing stone,” I observed as we approached the spot, and as there was somewhere to pull in, we did. I hopped out of the car with the camera, seeing two boys with go-carts just inside the gate. I asked them if they lived there and we talked at cross purposes for a couple of minutes until one of them said ‘this is a bridleway’ so I felt free to open the gate, go in and have a closer look at the tumulus.

There is a distinct mound, with brilliant views over the Rede Valley to the east. I thought the ‘standing stone’ was in fact a gatepost as I thought there was a metal bracket in the stone on its northern side. It wasn’t until we got home and looked it up that we realised it was a Roman milestone which has been erected in this spot by the (yes, again!) The Redesdale Society.

Well worth stopping to have a look. Can’t believe we haven’t spotted this before.

Brownrigg (Rochester)

Trip No.33  Entry No.4  Date Added: 10th Jul 2017
Site Type: Ancient Cross Country: England (Northumberland)
Visited: Yes on 8th Jul 2017. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: Brownrigg Ancient Cross Base, Rochester, Northumberland: Two cross bases in one day, although this one isn’t marked on the map. Husband, Andrew, found it by doing a location search on Pastscape before we set off (he gets to look at settlements and Roman forts he's interested in whilst I get the cross bases and tumuli!).

Again, just off a layby on the A68 just before it meets the A696, where a footpath goes north west towards Rattenraw. The layby was being used by a solitary motorbiker who looked at us curiously as we drove up and parked up.

Letting ourselves in through the farmgate to the footpath, which is signposted Rattenraw and Bagraw, we first of all tried to follow the ditch and mound of the line of Dere Street, but this was very boggy and the GPS was telling me we were getting further away.

Wading back to the farm track, the metres on the GPS dropped rapidly, then we suddenly came across the cross base, sitting slightly to the north of the farm track, some 30 metres short of where the official gps reading says it should be. I made the grid reference NY 85668 94716. On UK grid reference finder, the line of Dere Street crossing the field can be clearly seen, as can one of the banks/ditches which matches the line on the OS map.

The cross base is well buried in the grass and sits in a slight dip, just east of some old mine workings. Nothing terribly remarkable about this except the socket hole seemed really small, measuring only 10 cms square.

Worth stopping off to look, as no-one else seems to have spotted this, but nothing hugely exciting about this site. The next stop was most certainly the best of the last few months!

Burdhope (Rochester)

Trip No.33  Entry No.5  Date Added: 11th Jul 2017
Site Type: Ancient Village or Settlement Country: England (Northumberland)
Visited: Yes on 8th Jul 2017. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 5 Access 3

Log Text: Burdhope Hill Village, Rochester, Northumberland: After having stopped at the Camien Café for refreshments, we headed off into the hot sun again. This time it was only a few hundred metres up the road. There was a small layby at the side of the road opposite Woolaw Farm entrance. Crossing the road was fun as you could hear the roar of the motorbikes and cars coming from a fair distance, then they zoomed past, the rush of air lifting my hair. A quick run across the road was safely achieved.

Andrew had found out from friends who visit Trig Points that the only footbridge across the river was at Woolaw Farm, so we walked down the track and joined the footpath just west of the farm house.

The grass is tussocky and some parts of the field are boggy, other parts cut by modern field drains, but it wasn’t too challenging a walk (for me).

The monument is on access land, although it has been fenced off to protect it. As the gate into the field was at the top of the hill, we took a short cut by climbing through the barbed wire fence. We must have spent an hour wandering around, trying to interpret the different bits. Fascinating!

Yatesfield (Otterburn)

Trip No.33  Entry No.6  Date Added: 11th Jul 2017
Site Type: Ancient Village or Settlement Country: England (Northumberland)
Visited: Yes on 8th Jul 2017. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 2 Access 5

Log Text: Yatesfield Settlement, Otterburn Ranges: By this time, it was 6pm, and rather than face another long walk over rough ground to the Roman Tombs at Lamb Crag, we decided to save our feet and drive to this site up on the Otterburn Ranges. We spotted the two ‘archaeological area’ signs at the south and north ends of the site. It has obviously been split by the military tarmacked road. Standing at the western edge of the site, looking down over the gentle south east slope, it took a few minutes to ‘get my eye in’ and start to see the possible hut circles and lumps and bumps of various structures. In the end, I walked to the northern end and walked across the site, photographing as I went.

Parts of the ground were very boggy and I disturbed a hare sunning itself against the back wall, partly sunk into the bank (part earth, part stone) of one of the round houses nearest the road.

Yatesfield Hill (Otterburn)

Trip No.33  Entry No.7  Date Added: 11th Jul 2017
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir) Country: England (Northumberland)
Visited: Yes on 8th Jul 2017. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 5

Log Text: Yatesfield Hill Standing Stone, Otterburn Ranges: Driving up to Yatesfield Hill, I noticed this stone by the side of the road. There is no mention of it on Pastscape, English Heritage or the OS maps.

It might be a marker stone or a rubbing stone, as it is sited by the junction of Yatesfield Hill road and a trackway west, but looks as if it has been here for some time, as it is deeply embedded in the ground and has small stones and boulders packed around its base.

There was a lovely military Port-a-loo nearby!