Walker Dene, Celtic stone head
Walker Dene, Celtic stone head
HER Number
6853
District
Newcastle
Site Name
Walker Dene, Celtic stone head
Place
Walker
Map Sheet
NZ26NE
Class
Monument <By Form>
Site Type: Broad
Findspot
Site Type: Specific
Statue
General Period
ROMAN
Specific Period
Roman 43 to 410
Form of Evidence
Find
Description
Found in 1936 by a man digging for topsoil in Walker Dene. Accessed into the Museum of Antiquities in 1975. The head is triangular in shape. The features are primitive with oval eyes, curved eyebrows in relief, a broad nose and wide off-centre mouth with thick lips. Part of right forehead and right eyebrow are missing. The head is 250 metres high, it would have been 220 metres wide maximum and 136 metres thick. There have, thus far, been three "Celtic Heads" found in close proximity to Hadrian's Wall in the eastern sector - in 1969 one was found at West Denton (HER 1292) close to Milecastle 8 and another found at Lemington (HER 1321) close to the same Milecastle in 1980. A head carved into a roundel on a building was also found at Milecastle 35. Although all of these heads bear the characteristics of the "Celtic Head", they bear little similarity to each other in their features or general shape. Their interest as a group is in their findspots and possible link between the cult of the head in the C2 and the building of Hadrian's Wall.
Easting
428000
Northing
565000
Grid Reference
NZ428000565000
Sources
<< HER 6853 >> L. Allason-Jones, A Stone Head from Walker, Museum Notes 1994, Archaeologia Aeliana, 5 Series, Vol XXII, pp 263-265