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Yeavering Bell is a twin-peaked hill above Glendale in Northumberland. The hill, 361 metres above sea level, is encircled by the wall of a late-prehistoric hillfort, a tribal centre of the Votadini called in Brythonic and Old Welsh Din Gefron, from which the current name stems Link
Yeavering Bell is the largest hillfort in the Cheviots, and clearly played a different role to the dozens of smaller forts. Elements of both defence and display have been identified.
Milfield North henge, down below on the Milfield Plain, dating from about 2000BC, appears to be aligned on the Bell and there is a large burial cairn on the eastern and highest peak that is probably of the Bronze Age.
The hillfort ramparts were originally built in the Iron Age of bright pink andesite, quarried from the hill itself, originally up to 2.5 metres in height. They enclose an area of 5.6 hectares, within which are the still visible platforms of about 130 timber-built roundhouses. It was occupied in the Iron Age through into the Romano-British period. The east hill summit is surrounded by a narrow ditch probably representing a later palisaded enclosure.
It is thought that the hillfort was constructed in two phases. In the first phase the fort was longer, with what are now the two exterior enclosures forming the east and west ends. The second phase saw new stretches of wall being constructed on the east and west, which shortened the overall length of the fort and left the original ends as the two exterior crescent shaped banks.
Various breaks in the fort bank have been identified with five of them showing signs of regular use. The main entrance was probably on the south side overlooking land that was cleared and cultivated.
Little is known about when or why the fort was eventually abandoned but it is possible that some of its functions may have been transferred to the early medieval 'Palace’ site of Gefrin, located below the hillfort.
More information can be found on the following sites: Link
3D model of Yeavering Bell LIDAR on Sketchfab: Link