Humbleton Hill is a hill in

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land ...

, England, about west of

Wooler Wooler ( ) is a small town in Northumberland, England. It lies on the edge of the Northumberland National Park, near the Cheviot Hills. It is a popular base for walkers and is referred to as the "Gateway to the Cheviots". As well as many shops ...

. It is the location of the

Battle of Homildon Hill The Battle of Holmedon Hill or Battle of Homildon Hill was a conflict between English and Scottish armies on 14 September 1402 in Northumberland, England. The battle was recounted in Shakespeare's '' Henry IV, part 1''. Although Humbleton Hi ...

of 1402, between English and Scottish armies. There is an archaeological site on the summit, with remains of an enclosed settlement of the

Neolithic Age The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several pa ...

and a later

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostl ...

hillfort. It is a

scheduled monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...

Description

The hill is part of the

Cheviot Hills The Cheviot Hills (), or sometimes The Cheviots, are a range of uplands straddling the Anglo-Scottish border between Northumberland and the Scottish Borders. The English section is within the Northumberland National Park. The range includes T ...

. Its height is , with a

prominence In topography, prominence (also referred to as autonomous height, relative height, and shoulder drop in US English, and drop or relative height in British English) measures the height of a mountain or hill's summit relative to the lowest contou ...

of ."Humbleton Hill"
''Hill Bagging''. Retrieved 6 January 2022.

Prehistory

There are remains of a hillfort of the Iron Age, within an earlier enclosure thought to be of the Neolithic or

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second prin ...

. The earlier enclosure has an irregular shape and measures up to west to east and north to south. It is defined by a low bank of earth and stone; on the south side a steep ravine adds to the defence. At the south-west corner, large stones set on edge probably mark the original entrance, wide. The more massive inner enclosure, dating from the Iron Age, measures both north to south and west to east. A stone bank about wide is the remains of the rampart; there is a second rampart on the east side, now a bank of loose stones wide. On the south side the edge of the ravine provides the defence, and there is no rampart. The entrance is on the south-east, wide, marked by boulders. There are traces of 20 roundhouses, diameter , within the inner rampart, and about 8 roundhouses between the ramparts. There are remains of some small enclosures, thought to be medieval

shieling A shieling is a hut or collection of huts on a seasonal pasture high in the hills, once common in wild or sparsely populated places in Scotland. Usually rectangular with a doorway on the south side and few or no windows, they were often cons ...

s or livestock pens, set against the hillfort enclosure and the outer bank.

References

{{Iron Age hillforts in England Scheduled monuments in Northumberland Archaeological sites in Northumberland Hill forts in Northumberland Hills of Northumberland