Monument record SLY 045 - Two ring ditches and late prehistoric or Roman enclosures are visible as cropmarks in Shotley.

Irregular enclosure (?) cropmark, circa 50m x 50m maximum, within area of occasional field boundaries etc. A series of possible features in a semi circular (?) setting is visible just within the E and SE bounds of the enclosure (S1) and an ovoid enclosure (SLY 059) is situated within the enclosure (S2).
A late prehistoric or Roman probable enclosure containing a 'D' shaped enclosure, and two probably late prehistoric ring ditches are visible on aerial photographs as cropmarks, centred on circa TM24113432. The large possible enclosure is visible as two linear features, the western ditch being circa 25m long centred on TM24063430, and the eastern one circa 70m in length, centred on TM24113432. However, it is not possible to see connecting cropmarks to the north or south, and to therefore positively describe this feature as an enclosure, despite the eastern side turning at circa TM24123432 to apparently enclose the internal 'D' shaped feature. However, the visible linear features encloses an area of circa 2800 square metres. This includes the 'D' shaped enclosure recorded as SLY 059. Faint cropmarks suggest that this feature may have at one time been surrounded by a rectilinear enclosure on a north-west to south-east alignment, but it is not possible to be certain from the photographs currently available. There may also be a number of pits, post-holes or interrupted ditch features associated with this feature. However, these may simply be 'background' features resulting from the underlying patch of well drained geology on which these cropmarks have formed, possibly a small island of gravel which has settle in a depression in the surrounding alluvium. Two ring ditches are also visible in this area. One is situated circa 8m to the south of the 'D' shaped enclosure, centred on circa 24083431, and is roughly 13m in diameter. The second is centred on circa TM24113434, and is circa 9m in diameter. The cropmarks of the ditches are generally narrow, less than a metre in width, and in conjunction with the relatively small size of the features a late prehistoric date and probable original function as ditches or drip-gullies associated with houses seems likely. Both ring ditches appear to be cut by ditches that are either part of the larger enclosure or may be associated with it and it is therefore likely that they belong to different phases of occupation. It is probable that this complex was part of the wider late prehistoric or Roman cropmark complex described in ARW 020 (S3-S4).