Burwens, Crosby Ravensworth
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Burwens Romano-British Settlent, Crosby Lodge, Crosby Ravensworth
Burwens Romano-Britisih Settlement, Crosby Ravensworth - Coast to Coast
The Burwens Romano-British Settlement is one of the best-preserved examples of its kind in northern England. It lies just north of Crosby Lodge on the edge of the village of Crosby Ravensworth and is protected today as a scheduled monument. The site comprises the remains of a small native village together with its associated field systems and stock enclosures.
Despite the passage of nearly two thousand years, the stone walls and earthworks remain remarkably well defined. The settlement is enclosed within a roughly rectangular boundary wall with rounded corners measuring about 67 by 58 metres, inside which lie the foundations of circular houses and small agricultural compounds.
Burwens forms part of a wider cluster of Romano-British settlements scattered around the headwaters of the Lyvennet Valley, an area that appears to have supported a small farming community during the Roman occupation of northern Britain. The layout reflects a typical upland settlement pattern, where roundhouses and livestock enclosures were grouped within a protective perimeter wall.
The site occupies a tongue of land between two small streams — the Lyvennet Beck to the west and Raven’s Gill to the east — which converge a short distance to the north of the settlement.
About a mile to the south, on the route of the Coast to Coast path itself, lie several other historic landmarks: Robin Hood’s Grave, King’s Well, and Black Dub, all of which are associated with local folklore and early historical traditions of the Lyvennet Valley.
Burwens - Crosby Ravensworth
The Burwens Romano-British settlement is enclosed within a rectangular stone wall measuring roughly 67 metres by 58 metres, the surviving banks in places still rising to nearly two metres in height. The enclosure wall, now largely grass-covered, can be traced clearly from the path that runs towards Crosby Lodge. Its entrance lies on the eastern side of the settlement, away from the track, and would once have provided controlled access to the village and its surrounding livestock enclosures.
Burwens Hut Circles Lyvennet Valley
The Historic England record notes an entrance at the north-west corner of the enclosure where a raised passage leads into the settlement. From here two ancient trackways appear to diverge across the site. One runs south-east past a group of circular house platforms and two isolated huts, the largest measuring about 7.5 metres (25 ft) in diameter and thought to have been the principal dwelling of the settlement. Gaps between the roundhouses lead into adjoining enclosures that are believed to have served as small cattle pens or livestock compounds.
Burwens Settlement Lyvennet Valley
A second ancient trackway branches eastwards from the entrance passage and leads to another group of huts and livestock pens. Two of these structures appear to include small forecourts or entrance chambers, possibly serving as sheltered working areas or controlled entrances to the dwellings. Features such as these are typical of Romano-British farmsteads, where circular houses, stock enclosures and small yards were arranged within a protective boundary wall. Archaeological evidence suggests the settlement was occupied during the later Roman period, probably between the 2nd and 4th centuries AD, when farming communities worked the fertile upper reaches of the Lyvennet Valley.
Crosby Lodge Lyvennet Valley
Crosby Lodge stands on a narrow tongue of land that extends northwards from Howe Robin on Crosby Ravensworth Fell. The farm occupies a natural ridge between two small valleys: Lyvennet Beck flowing to the west and Raven’s Gill to the east. This elevated position provides wide views across the head of the Lyvennet Valley. The surrounding landscape contains a remarkable concentration of ancient settlement sites, with Romano-British farmsteads scattered across the nearby fells and valley slopes, indicating that this area once supported a thriving upland farming community.
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