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Contrebis 2018 v36 20 WARTON CRAG: RE-APPRAISING AN IRON AGEHILL FORT Kevin Grice with Louise Martin Abstract The authors discuss recent research conducted with Morecambe Bay Partnership on the Iron Age hill fort on Warton Crag. They discuss both the antiquarian and twentieth-century documentary sources, evaluate the results of recent LiDAR imaging and contrast the different views on the possible date and function of the monument including modern re-interpretations. They conclude that its dating may be more complex than previously thought, set out an alternative hypothesis and suggest further investigations. General description Situated 1.5km north of Carnforth, Lancashire, the village of Warton is dominated by Warton Crag, on top of which there is a monument (at SD 4922 7288) once described by Farrer and Brownbill (1908, 508) as ‘…situated in a perfect position on a prominent limestone hill…’ . It is generally called an ‘Iron Age hill fortand is often connected to the Brigantes (who were the dominant local tribe in the first century AD) and in particular to their queen Cartimandua whose capital may have been at Stanwick in North Yorkshire (Haselgrove 2016). The site is defended on three sides by rocky scarps with steep slopes overlooking the sea to the west, low-lying marshy ground to the south and the Ingleborough area to the east. The fairly level summit slopes to the north and north- east. Thick vegetation conceals banks of rough or unworked stone with rubble cores (described generally as ramparts) forming three segmented, semi-curvilinear features 4060 metres apart and piled up 3 to 7 metres wide and up to 1.3 metres high. These appear to enclose or defend the north- east and more gently sloping side of the Crag. The inner (southern) and outer (northern) ramparts are the most substantial, with the former being the best preserved. The area enclosed by the inner rampart is sub-rectangular measuring about 3.2 hectares (or 7 acres according to Pevsner (Hartwell and Pevsner 2009, 683) and the area within the outer rampart is about 6 hectares. The documentary sources Warton Crag is identified on maps prepared in 1576 for Lord Derby and sent to William Cecil, different copies of which are now in the British Library (n.d.) and the National Archives (n.d.). They show only the beacon at the summit, having been prepared regarding defence against Spanish invasion. Similarly John Lucas (Lucas 1732, 352 & 348) refers only to the beacon as well as to nearby Fairy Hole Cave (see below). The Crag was the subject of an Enclosure Award in 1740 after which the ‘Occupation Road’ was built about 200 metres north of the monument on an eastwest alignment and numerous field boundaries were constructed, one of which cuts across the west end of the outer wall, but without reference to it. Yates (1786) similarly shows the crags which form the natural outcrop to the south and west as well as the beacon, but nothing else. The first documentary reference to the monument is in the late eighteenth century. In 1785 William Hutchinson saw two urns of coarse, poorly baked pottery which were in the possession of Mr. Jenkinson (see Endnote 1). They had been found separately in circular, conical cairns which were: ...levelled down within his new inclosures on the skirts of Warton Crag. The cairns were composed of pebble stones foreign to those to be had from the rocky surface of the adjoining hill and were probably gathered from a stream. Each urn had been found in a small cist formed of flat stones, covered by a large blue flag. The mouth of each urn, which contained ashes and burnt bones, was covered with a small flat stone. The urn illustrated was recovered complete but the other was damaged by the workmen. The

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Page 1: WARTON CRAG: RE-APPRAISING AN IRON AGE HILL FORTlahs.archaeologyuk.org/Contrebis/Grice Warton .pdf · adopts the classification of Piggott Group IV but adds that it is in La Tène

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WARTON CRAG: RE-APPRAISING AN ‘IRON AGE’ HILL FORT

Kevin Grice with Louise Martin

Abstract

The authors discuss recent research conducted with Morecambe Bay Partnership on the Iron Age

hill fort on Warton Crag. They discuss both the antiquarian and twentieth-century documentary

sources, evaluate the results of recent LiDAR imaging and contrast the different views on the

possible date and function of the monument including modern re-interpretations. They conclude

that its dating may be more complex than previously thought, set out an alternative hypothesis and

suggest further investigations.

General description

Situated 1.5km north of Carnforth, Lancashire, the village of Warton is dominated by Warton Crag,

on top of which there is a monument (at SD 4922 7288) once described by Farrer and Brownbill

(1908, 508) as ‘…situated in a perfect position on a prominent limestone hill…’. It is generally

called an ‘Iron Age hill fort’ and is often connected to the Brigantes (who were the dominant local

tribe in the first century AD) and in particular to their queen Cartimandua whose capital may have

been at Stanwick in North Yorkshire (Haselgrove 2016). The site is defended on three sides by

rocky scarps with steep slopes overlooking the sea to the west, low-lying marshy ground to the

south and the Ingleborough area to the east. The fairly level summit slopes to the north and north-

east. Thick vegetation conceals banks of rough or unworked stone with rubble cores (described

generally as ‘ramparts’) forming three segmented, semi-curvilinear features 40–60 metres apart and

piled up 3 to 7 metres wide and up to 1.3 metres high. These appear to enclose or defend the north-

east and more gently sloping side of the Crag. The inner (southern) and outer (northern) ramparts

are the most substantial, with the former being the best preserved. The area enclosed by the inner

rampart is sub-rectangular measuring about 3.2 hectares (or 7 acres according to Pevsner (Hartwell

and Pevsner 2009, 683) and the area within the outer rampart is about 6 hectares.

The documentary sources

Warton Crag is identified on maps prepared in 1576 for Lord Derby and sent to William Cecil,

different copies of which are now in the British Library (n.d.) and the National Archives (n.d.).

They show only the beacon at the summit, having been prepared regarding defence against Spanish

invasion. Similarly John Lucas (Lucas 1732, 352 & 348) refers only to the beacon as well as to

nearby Fairy Hole Cave (see below). The Crag was the subject of an Enclosure Award in 1740 after

which the ‘Occupation Road’ was built about 200 metres north of the monument on an east–west

alignment and numerous field boundaries were constructed, one of which cuts across the west end

of the outer wall, but without reference to it. Yates (1786) similarly shows the crags which form the

natural outcrop to the south and west as well as the beacon, but nothing else.

The first documentary reference to the monument is in the late eighteenth century. In 1785 William

Hutchinson saw two urns of coarse, poorly baked pottery which were in the possession of Mr.

Jenkinson (see Endnote 1). They had been found separately in circular, conical cairns which were:

...levelled down within his new inclosures on the skirts of Warton Crag. The cairns were

composed of pebble stones foreign to those to be had from the rocky surface of the

adjoining hill and were probably gathered from a stream. Each urn had been found in a

small cist formed of flat stones, covered by a large blue flag. The mouth of each urn,

which contained ashes and burnt bones, was covered with a small flat stone. The urn

illustrated was recovered complete but the other was damaged by the workmen. The

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adjacent grounds at the feet of Warton Crag contain innumerable tumuli of small

dimensions and an oblong feature composed of earth. Many have been opened by Mr.

Jenkinson but nothing was found in them. (Hutchinson 1789, 212)

Jenkinson is named in connection with plots 8, 9, 16 and 17 in the Yealand Conyers Enclosure

Award of 1778 so he was a landowner. Nothing of these items has been seen for many years but

they have been interpreted as Bronze Age cairns, possibly a barrow cemetery. Hutchinson

illustrated his report with a semi-bird’s-eye perspective sketch of the ramparts on Warton Crag and

he included the surviving urn (Figure 1). He associated the encampment with native British

resistance to the Roman conquest, therefore Late Iron Age.

Figure 1 Hutchinson's View of Fortifications on Warton Crag (Society of Antiquaries)

In 1823 Whitaker describes ‘two circumvallations of loose stones’ at ‘Wharton’ (Whitaker 1823

Vol. II, 88) and similarly the first Ordnance Survey (OS) map of 1848 shows only two ‘Old

Ramparts’ (Figure 2). The surrounding area was mostly open rough pasture. This description is

repeated in the OS map of 1891 but the 1913 map shows all three ramparts and describes the

monument for the first time as a ‘Hill Fort’. Later OS maps show it as it is today: the current OL7

Explorer map (2015) simply refers to the monument as a ‘Fort’.

The Victoria County History (Farrer and Brownbill 1908, 508–11) notes that the inner wall appears

to contain a five-foot diameter chamber within its thickness. Possible hut sites are recorded. Pedley

gave the clearest description of the monument prior to recent investigations using modern

techniques (Pedley 1939, 520–7 and Figure 14). He noted the need for ‘artificial defence’ to the

north and concluded that the measures adopted were ‘certainly sufficient’. He noted that, as at

Ingleborough, dry-stone walling was used without ditches but with a different building technique,

including a double facing to the inner wall. He stated that the entrances were simple, with the three

ramparts used in ‘an interesting way to complicate this vulnerable spot’ and thought that the

defences implied ‘a large garrison’. Pedley had no doubt that it was a Brigantian site. Forde-

Johnston (1962 and 1976) describes the fort in similar terms, noting the discovery of huts, barrows

and pottery. He also considered it to be Iron Age.

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Figure 2 Ordnance Survey Map, 1848

The site was scheduled on 30 November 1925 with the most recent amendment being on 3 March

1994 under reference number 1007633 (Historic England 1994). The listing describes the site as a

small multi-vallate hillfort of Iron Age date. The entry goes on to note that within the enclosure

were the boulder foundations of three sub-rectangular huts constructed against a long low rock

escarpment. Immediately outside the inner rampart a further two hut foundations were located

against the same escarpment. To the south, below the main summit of the Crag, faint traces of a

bank and ditch had recently been observed along the edges of a limestone shelf. The alleged oval

tumuli (burial mounds) observed by antiquarian sources to the north of the outer rampart were not

evident as earthworks but it was thought that they might survive as buried remains, perhaps

including any deep burial pits. The summit cairn was noted as of modern construction, as was the

beacon for the 1988 ‘Armada 400’ celebrations.

The monument was flagged in the Arnside and Silverdale AONB Statutory Management Plan in

2009 as being in need of conservation management (Arnside and Silverdale AONB 2009) and it

was visited by a Field Investigator in late 2009 to determine the feasibility of archaeological survey

(Jecock 2009). During this survey elements of both the inner and outer ramparts were located

although no trace of the middle rampart was found. No other internal features were seen although

the ground conditions made survey extremely difficult. The site has appeared in all the Heritage at

Risk Registers for the North West from 2012, described as unsatisfactory with major localised

problems (Historic England 2012). It was part of Elsworth’s analysis of hillforts around Morecambe

Bay, being noted as relatively extensive and having multiple banks (Elsworth 2014, 57).

Adjacent sites

Two adjacent sites and their finds require consideration. Dog Holes Cave is about half a mile west

of Warton Crag summit. It was excavated extensively by Jackson between 1907 and 1912 (Jackson

1909, 1910, 1911, 1912, 1913). The work showed early occupation from the Pleistocene (as

evidenced by the remains of animals such as Irish elk, Siberian vole and Arctic lemming) into the

Neolithic and later. There was a Group 4 polished axe, flint flakes and an antler pick (all Neolithic),

Later Neolithic and Beaker pottery from the Bronze Age of c. 2000BC onwards, first-century AD

Samian ware and fragments of coarse black ware, hand-made and without ornamentation. Other

finds included iron and bronze objects, notably being ‘a blue and red enamelled bronze pendant or

fibula’ and ‘a pair of beautifully patinated bronze scale pans and beam, the pans being decorated on

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the interior with the dot and circle design’, all dateable to between the first and third centuries AD.

There were the usual animal remains, a weaving comb from red-deer antler and a small iron sickle.

The remains of about a score of human beings were unearthed together with a faunal assemblage

(now lost), again dated by Jackson to the Neolithic, although recent examination of the human

remains (now at Lancaster City Museum) suggests they are more modern. All the Roman-era finds

were interpreted by Jackson as domestic in nature although he considered the earlier finds to be

sepulchral with the dead being buried during the Bronze Age (Jackson 1911, 479). These later items

have also been interpreted more recently by others as sepulchral or votive in character (Shotter

1973, 1995). Similar finds were made by Jackson in Fairy Hole Cave (Jackson 1910) and, without

the pottery or human remains, at Badger Hole Cave, both on the flanks of Warton Crag about half a

mile or so from the summit.

In the early nineteenth century the remains of an iron sword with bronze hilt/pommel and

fragmentary copper-alloy scabbard/sheath were found near Warton Crag. It is now in the British

Museum (Registration Number 1857,0223.1). The precise location of its discovery is unclear. The

Lancashire County Archaeology Service Site and Monuments Record (LCASMR), referring to

Kemble (1863 192–3 and Plate), states that it was found near the fortress on Warton Crag.

However, the British Museum database says that it was purchased from Mr S. Pratt of Bond Street

(presumably a dealer) and his Register quotes a label, now lost: ‘Found under a heap of stones at

Wooton near Lancaster. David Campbell, M.D.’. The archaeologist John Garstang reviewed the

evidence in 1906 and gave the provenance as ‘Warton’ and this has been adopted ever since. Pedley

(1939, 520) says that the sword came ‘from this site’ i.e. Warton Crag hill fort. Probably its owner

was connected in some way with the hilltop enclosure.

The date of the sword is uncertain. Pedley (1939, 520) states that it is of the La Tène IV period and

the LCASMR similarly states that the find is classifiable as of the Brigantian type (Group IV)

dateable to c. AD 45–125 referring to Piggott (1950, 17–21, 27 and map at 23). The British Museum

adopts the classification of Piggott Group IV but adds that it is in La Tène Type II/III which places

it between 200 BC and AD 100. It is certainly similar to a sword-pommel found at Brough in 1875

which is now in Tullie House Museum in Carlisle (Cowen 1937) and which is dated from the

Brigantian era of the first century AD. A La Tène decorated bronze fragment was also found in

1907 at Stone Walls, a ‘Romano-British’ settlement near Skelmore Heads near Urswick (see

below). The Warton sword is therefore probably of first century AD origin.

The traditional view of the monument’s date and function

The structures on Warton Crag are most commonly referred to as Iron Age, particularly of the first

century AD and associated with the Brigantes and their queen Cartimandua. The high-status

Brigantian sword and scabbard may support this traditional dating theory, as may the pottery and

other items from that era in the nearby caves. Pedley had no doubt that the site was of the Roman

period, concluding: ‘The evidence is too slight to indicate very reliably the range of occupation in

the Roman period; only the Samian ware has been definitely dated and this proves an occupation at

the beginning of that period.’ (Pedley 1939, 526). He notes the absence of money, personal

ornaments and luxuries, so confirming the paucity of the culture and explains the presence of the

bronze balances as part of the loot from a raid on a neighbouring Roman site. The Brigantian

connection is referred to in many local guides to the area (for example Arnside and Silverdale

AONB 2010, 10). Otherwise the site is described as Iron Age (Lancashire Wildlife Trust 2003).

This is unsurprising because most British hill forts were primarily constructed during the Iron Age,

with only a few dating to the Late Bronze Age. However, the ethnologist James Forde-Johnston

(1976, 103) noted that some Iron Age hill forts had been built close to earlier Bronze Age barrows.

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He thought it possible that this was for defensive protection from the ‘sacred associations of the

burial place’. This would apply to Warton Crag also, if the antiquarian evidence about burial sites

set out above is accepted. Further he also noted that about a third of the Iron Age hill forts in

England and Wales were multi-vallate as at Warton Crag. He thought they were constructed as

defensive positions and Cunliffe’s belief that they were defensive settlements is in part supported by

Warton Crag’s location, size and fortification although there is no evidence for obviously

contemporary hut circles (Cunliffe 2009).

A modern revision

In the last 50 years this interpretation has come under scrutiny. In 1962 Clare Fell (Fell 1962, 346)

argued that Warton Crag Hill Fort might be contemporary with the final phase of the development

at Skelmore Heads (see below) and, without assigning to either a precise date or era, she noted the

finding of the Warton sword pommel and hilt from the first century AD. She was prophetic as the

re-assessment began in earnest in Denise Kenyon’s The Origins of Lancashire (1991). She notes the

line of forts on the north side of Morecambe Bay from Millom to Castlestede (Hornby), including

Warton Crag; that they are located at the upland-lowland interface for optimum access to lowland

arable soils and upland pastures; that at Warton shellfish and sea fish would have supplemented the

diet; and that all are on the east (or lee) side for protection from westerlies.

In 1902 six bronze axe heads were found at Skelmore Heads. They have been identified as Early

Iron Age Sompting-type socketed axes of 800–600 BC (Boughton 2018). A Late Bronze Age hoard

including three gold lock rings was recently found in a hollow covered with a large stone just below

the hill fort at Skelmore Heads (Noon 2018, 13). These finds may be of significance in the dating of

Warton Crag’s monument. This is because there was a small excavation at Skelmore Heads in the

1950s that revealed the remains of a palisaded hilltop settlement succeeded by a hill fort whose

northern limits are marked by a defensive ditch and bank with perhaps some timber revetment to

secure it (Powell 1963). Kenyon argues that the siting of the forts may have been related to the trade

routes for Langdale stone axes along the Irish Sea littoral to the Ribble estuary (Kenyon 1991, 31).

These axes were being traded widely by 2,500 BC and this could make Warton Crag a place of high

significance as a look-out point in the Neolithic and the Bronze Age. By the Late Bronze Age,

around 750 BC, the climate had deteriorated, storms were more frequent and so there was a greater

need to stay near the shore. Sea levels will have been a little higher (Sturt et al. 2013 Figure 6).

Harding (2004) notes the relationship of the forts at Skelmore Heads, Castle Head and Warton Crag

and, believing that the Late Bronze Age finds at Skelmore Heads may be contemporary with the

fort, argues that all three were built in that era. Evans (2004, 124) suggests that Skelmore Heads has

much earlier origins than previously thought and Hoaen and Loney (2004, 48) more specifically

adopt the beginning of the first millennium BC as the start date of its occupation. The current view

is perhaps best encapsulated by Hodgson and Brennand (2006, 52) – ‘…few hilltop sites can be

securely dated to the Iron Age in the northern part of the region.’

Barrowclough (2008; 2010) argues that sites like Warton Crag (which he describes as a defended

hilltop settlement) arose alongside a general resurgence in activity along the northern coast of

Morecambe Bay as evidenced by analyses of metalwork distributions from the Late Bronze Age

(920–750 BC) and Early Iron Age (750–510 BC). Barrowclough (2008, 180) considers that such

sites were by default assumed to be classic Iron Age monuments whereas in fact they originate

earlier – Late Bronze Age or at the latest Early Iron Age. He notes the lack of ‘developed hillforts’

in the region but emphasises the concentration around Morecambe Bay (Barrowclough 2010, 194).

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Denwood is similarly receptive to the possibility that the fort could be Neolithic or Bronze Age in

origin although the drawing by John Hodgson (Denwood 2014, 14) of how the fort at Warton Crag

might have looked, which was originally prepared for a Lancashire Wildlife Trust pamphlet (2003),

appears more Brigantian than earlier, having regard to the stone bases of the huts.

Dan Elsworth (Elsworth 2014, 52–8 and Fig 1) also notes the inter-relationship of the sites around

Morecambe Bay given their inter-visibility and the domination by Ingleborough of the eastern view

from many of them including Warton Crag. He similarly concludes that, where evidence is

available, most have earlier origins than previously supposed.

The 2016 LiDAR survey and field investigations

Warton Crag has changed dramatically since the early twentieth century – less grazing since the

1950s and now a thick vegetation canopy. The site was placed on Historic England’s Heritage At

Risk Register. Attempts by the Historic England (English Heritage) team to survey from the ground

and with traditional aerial photography have been thwarted by this dense vegetation. The site was

mapped from the air in 2013 as part of the Upland Pilot Project within English Heritage’s National

Archaeological Identification Survey (Oakey et al. 2015) but the identification of features was poor.

Accordingly, LiDAR technology (Light Detection and Ranging – see Endnote 2) was proposed as

part of Morecambe Bay’s Landscape Partnership Scheme ‘Headlands to Headspace’ (H2H). LiDAR

can discover sites normally hidden under tree cover. However, the data available for Warton Crag

was collected only at 2-metre intervals and did not show the site with sufficient clarity. In 2014,

Morecambe Bay Partnership was awarded a grant of £1.9 million by the Heritage Lottery Fund to

deliver the H2H Scheme, part of which was to record and conserve some of the most significant

heritage sites around the Bay. Warton Crag is one of the key sites in the portfolio of projects,

needing improved understanding and site management. In February 2016, Bluesky International

was commissioned to undertake a very detailed LiDAR survey at 25cm intervals, funded by the

H2H Scheme, with a significant contribution from Historic England. The LiDAR data for Warton

was received in March 2016 and the teams processed the data, creating a Digital Terrain Model

(Figure 3) where the vegetation is removed giving a clear view of the ground. Clear images of the

site were obtained by David Ratledge.

Aerial-survey experts from Historic England’s Historic Places Investigation Team also processed,

interpreted and mapped the newly flown LiDAR (Figure 4) along with historic aerial photographs

and maps of the site. This team commented that the new LiDAR survey had given the ‘clearest view

of the monument yet, with the survey clearly revealing the enclosure, defined by three circuits of

bank’ (Evans, Jecock and Oakey 2017). A hollow in the middle of the enclosure is enigmatic and its

date and function remain unknown. It may have collected or stored fresh water, because the site

lacks a natural spring or other source of fresh water. More recent activity was identified, including

medieval or post-medieval stock enclosures and extensive limestone quarrying. The data collected

is contributing to the knowledge, understanding and management of this important site. However,

there is still much more to discover about what is beneath the trees.

The White Cross Archaeology Group, a voluntary group led by archaeologist John Trippier,

independently undertook an extensive Level 1 survey of the monument between 2014 and 2016.

The photographic dataset coupled with co-ordinates of features (c. 5m accuracy) and feature

descriptions were undertaken as part of the Atlas of Hillforts Project (Lock and Ralston 2017). The

findings and the dataset were shared with Morecambe Bay Partnership and Historic England.

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Figure 3 2016 LiDAR Processed Digital Terrain Model (DTM) looking east (copyright David

Ratledge)

Figure 4 Warton Crag 2016 LiDAR Processed Digital Terrain Model (DTM) with archaeological

interpretation by Historic England (copyright Historic England).

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Warton Crag was also targeted for follow-on ground investigation by Historic England’s Historic

Places Investigation Team (Evans, Jecock and Oakey 2017) using the LiDAR data to guide a walk-

over survey and field assessment of the monument. The LiDAR survey was used to locate

archaeological features, often obscured by dense vegetation (Evans, Jecock and Oakey 2017, 20).

The team mapped the features identified using a Global Navigation Satellite System device, which

located features, identified to between 1 and 5m accuracy. Their report combines the aerial survey,

LiDAR and field-survey data and considers the historic evidence. It concludes that it is clear that

Warton Crag is not an Iron Age hill fort nor an enclosure constructed with defensibility as its main

consideration (Evans, Jecock and Oakey 2017, 43). The authors consider it is far more credible that

it was a kind of meeting place for local communities, probably constructed and used in the final

centuries of the second millennium BC.

An alternative dating hypothesis

Might both arguments as to the date of Warton Crag Hill Fort be correct?

There was clearly extensive use of the area surrounding Warton Crag in the Neolithic and

particularly the Bronze Age, as evidenced by the finds detailed above. The height above sea level of

Warton Crag (163m) is significantly greater than either Skelmore Heads (105m) or Castle Head

(20m) but it has some similarities with each in terms of size, particularly if only the smaller area

enclosed by the middle rampart is considered. It is much nearer sea level and smaller than

Ingleborough or Carrock Fell, which would be large, seasonal inland tribal centres. It seems likely

that Warton Crag was occupied as a defensive enclosure in the Bronze Age given that other less

suitable places were so developed. Kenyon, Barrowclough and others are probably right in finding

its origins in this period.

It is reasonably likely that the site was used as a look-out by the Brigantes in the first century AD in

view of the finding of the sword and scabbard. The finding of Samian ware and other items from

the same period in nearby caves forming part of the same outcrop appears to support this

proposition. Warton Crag would have formed a perfect place from which to monitor commercial

and other activity in the area including the sea route for trade north. The absence of specifically

Roman finds suggests that the Brigantes would have been the occupiers rather than the Romans

themselves. Pedley’s theory (Pedley 1939, 527) that the bronze scales were the product of a raid by

a tribe on a nearby Roman settlement is an attractive one. When hostilities commenced in this area

between the Brigantes and the Romans after AD 70, the same site could equally fulfil a defensive

purpose if sufficiently robust.

This analysis of the development of the site is consistent with the interpretation by Tom Mace and

Dan Elsworth (of Greenlane Archaeology) of Castlesteads Hill Fort on the summit of The Helm

near Oxenholme (Mace and Elsworth 2012, 10; Elsworth 2014). This is only about 11 miles from

Warton Crag but shares the similarity of being atop a prominent geological feature, unlike those

around the northern shore of Morecambe Bay itself, particularly Castle Head. The authors

(following detailed measured survey but without excavation) hypothesize a sequence of

development at Castlesteads beginning with a timber palisade of Bronze Age or earlier origin

followed by construction in the Early Iron Age of outer ramparts on the north side (which

themselves may not have been constructed in a single event). These features combined with the

naturally steep slopes of The Helm to the east, west and south would have formed a roughly oval

enclosure on the summit. In the Late Iron Age or Romano-British period smaller earthworks were

built inside this original enclosure with possible small hut circles then added within.

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At Warton Crag the underlying limestone would have made erection of a timber palisade difficult if

not impossible so I believe a simple, modest stone structure was initially raised, perhaps along the

line of the present middle rampart, which is clearly less substantial than those inside and outside it.

This was then developed, used and re-used with the incorporation of the other, more extensive,

ramparts in a similar sequence to Castlesteads, the occupation again concluding in the Romano-

British period of the first century AD. However dating the Warton Crag structure based upon

structures and finds elsewhere cannot be definitive. The above is based upon examples where no or

only limited excavation has taken place and without modern expertise and dating techniques.

Conclusion

The Historic England Report (Evans, Jecock and Oakey 2017, 43) concludes: ‘The date of the

monument will only finally be determined (if at all) by excavation.’ Along with core sampling this

may yet provide a final answer but until then the debate as to its date and function will continue. We

should also respect the quality of Hutchinson’s depiction of the site in 1785 (Figure 5).

Figure 5 Comparison of Figures 1 (Hutchinson 1785) and 4 (LiDAR 2016, Historic England)

Acknowledgements Our thanks are due to all at Morecambe Bay Partnership and the Heritage Lottery Fund for giving the

community the opportunity to carry out this research. Morecambe Bay Partnership would like to thank the

landowners and tenants (Leighton Hall, Lancashire Wildlife Trust and the RSPB) for permitting the aerial

survey. The contributions of Arnside and Silverdale AONB Partnership, Historic England, the White Cross

Archaeology Group, Dan Elsworth, Bill Shannon and David Ratledge are gratefully acknowledged.

Endnotes

1.Hutchinson was a solicitor in Barnard Castle and a keen antiquary who published on the history of Durham

and Cumberland as well as topographic works on northern England generally. His Warton Crag findings

were first given in a letter to a fellow solicitor, George Allan, in January 1788 which was communicated to

the Society of Antiquaries (of which they were both members) in November 1788 and published in their

journal in 1789. He visited the area at the invitation of Robert Gibson who owned local copper mines and

was shown the encampment by Jenkinson, a local schoolmaster and also an antiquary.

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2 LiDAR uses an aircraft-mounted laser to record landscapes in 3D and can be used to discover and record

archaeological features. One of its advantages is that the data can be processed to ‘see through’ trees and

vegetation.

Author profiles

Kevin Grice is a Morecambe Bay Community Archaeology Volunteer, retired lawyer, Secretary of Kendal

Historical and Archaeological Society and a member of the Council of the Cumberland and Westmorland

Antiquarian and Archaeological Society. He has a particular interest in the prehistory of Cumbria and North

Lancashire. Email: [email protected].

Louise Martin is the Morecambe Bay Partnership’s Cultural Heritage Officer. She is an archaeologist who

graduated from the University of Bradford in 1996. She delivers the Partnership’s cultural heritage projects,

including the Heritage-Lottery-Funded Headlands to Headspace Landscape Partnership Scheme (H2H). A

major element of the Scheme was to take forward research on sites identified as ‘at risk’ such as Warton

Crag, alongside engaging with and training members of the community in historical and archaeological

research. Email: [email protected].

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