In this blog, I welcome you to Howick on the Northumberland coast here in the North East of England. This is where one of the oldest buildings in the British Isles is located. It’s been dated to 7700 BC – almost 10,000 years old.
The Discovery of Howick House
The building itself was occupied for around 100 years. It’s called the Howick House, and when it was first discovered, the journalists of the day had an absolute field day because they declared that this was the oldest house in the British Isles. Since then, older buildings have been discovered, like Star Carr in Yorkshire where a ritual site was discovered that contained another ancient building.
An Important Mesolithic Settlement
Here in Howick, we have an example of a Mesolithic hut, which would have been quite important during its time because it would have been a great location for hunter-gatherers to take advantage of the land around the building.
The house stands directly over a river valley, which would have fed into the North Sea. At that time, the sea would have been a lot further out than it is today. As a result, there would have been coastal plains that allowed the hunter-gatherers to walk all the way across to the modern-day Netherlands and across to mainland Europe. That, in fact, would have been how they arrived on the coast at Howick.
Reconstructing the Mesolithic Hut
When they arrived, they built this house. After archaeologists excavated the current location, the house was reconstructed and was discovered to be quite large with a diameter of roughly 5-6 metres.
Using this discovery, archaeologists believe the Mesolithic people scraped out the bottom of the house to produce a semi-circular dip in the land. Around the outside, they built upright beams of wood, stuck into the ground. These would have been connected together with cross beams to make the structure sound. The house was in a teepee shape and covered in reeds to provide waterproofing. The reeds would then have been covered with layers of turf for insulation and to make the structure fire-retardant.
Similar Structures at Maelmin Trail
Over at the Maelmin Trail, they constructed a similar building with a domed roof so it would have had the reeds inside, the turf on the outside, and the uprights coming over in a more disc-like shape. This would have created a warm, insulated, private space inside the building.
Both structures were equally valid.
Unfortunately, a group of local children came inside the reconstructed building here at Howick and set it on fire, so it’s no longer here.
The Diet of Mesolithic Hunter-Gatherers
The Mesolithic hunter-gatherers would have had a hugely varied diet because they would have been able to go down to the sea for fish or along the cliffs to hunt seabirds. As Britain got warmer, hazelnut trees would have been popular and they would have eaten seals as well. Inside the remains of the hut, were found the remains of either a fox, a dog, or a wolf, so we know they also ate or made use of creatures like that.
Life at Howick House
The family group lived here for almost 100 years. Back then, the average life expectancy was only around 30 years. Numerous generations lived here before abandoning it to move to a different location. They would have been part of a Mesolithic population of fishermen who came across the North Sea, one of two different Mesolithic groups who came to the North East.
If you are interested in this, why not book our Ancient Northumberland tour, which takes you around these amazing sites?
