Cheviot Area : Historical Background

Prehistoric activity in the area remains highly visible in the form of burial cairns from the Neolithic and Bronze Age, Bronze Age settlements with associated field systems, Iron Age pallisaded settlements, and hillforts. Romano-British homesteads are common throughout the area and often apparently associated with these are extensive rigg and furrow field systems.

Surviving remains from the mediaeval period are also fairly common, and of particular interest are the two deserted mediaeval villages that lie within the area, Antechester and Heddon. Antechester was a hamlet in the manor of Killum held by John de Arundel in 1380 and described as 'wasted' at that time. It later became the property of the Greys of Chillingham. In 1541 it was said to have been formerly composed of eight husbandlands, but 'hath lyen waste unplenyshed sythence before the remembraunce of any man now lyvinge'. However, nine men of Anchester reported for the muster of 1584, and Christopher Dacre's 1584 map of Border Holds shows a tower here (Bain, 1891). A survey of Wark Barony in the reign of Elizabeth also describes a parcel of ground commonly called Thompson's Walls or Antechester and appears to be generally referred to as Thompson's Walls from the 17th century (Dixon, 1984).

The substantial mediaeval site at the top of the Killum valley, on the shoulder between the hills of Coldsmouth and Ringchesters at a height of over 300m O.D., has been interpreted as the mediaeval village of Heddon. The site comprises a short series of house platforms and toft enclosures just east of the modern sheepfold. At the southern end of the row is a triangular enclosure at the front of which is a group of substantial earthworks possibly representing the remains of the former manor of Heddon (to the north of these earthworks are further enclosures, believed to be the remains of a post mediaeval farmstead).

The village is first mentioned in 1242 as a member of the Barony of Muschamp held by Robert de Heddon. In 1296 there were five taxpayers and eleven adults on the poll tax return of 1377. In 1541 Heddon had been 'lyen waste and unplenyshed ev'sythence before the remembraunce of any man now lyvinge'. The farm of Heddon was leased for £50 in the late 17th century and abandoned in the late 18th / early19th century (Dixon, 1984). The township of Thompson's Walls and Coldsmouth passed into the hands of the Greys of Chillingham in 1663 and was rated on the rent roll as worth £44 (Vickers, 1922.187).

The Manor of Kilham was held by the de Arundel family in the 14th century and described as valued at £14. 6s. 8d. in normal times, but at that time was utterly wasted by the Scots. In 1682 it passed to the earls of Tankerville and remained with them until 1913 (Vickers, 1922.158).

Down to the 14th century there are occasional references to a tenement or grange within the territory of Shotton called Colpinhope. In the second half of the 12th century it was in the possession of the monks of Kelso, and a mill is recorded in the 13th century. During the Anglo-Scottish Wars the property was forfeited to the English crown. The boundaries given at the time are, 'from Edredsete as far as Greneagre under Edredsete and so to the well which is the head of the rivulet that separates the kingdoms of England and Scotland'. It has been suggested that Colpinhope may well have extended eastwards as far as Butterstones Shank and included Coldsmouth Hill and that the name Coldsmouth may derive from this (Vickers, 1922.189).