Historical sites are not just confined to Northumberland's rural areas, but can be found right across the county.
That was the message from one of the county's archaeologists during a presentation on the fascinating findings uncovered at Newsham during construction work for the new Northumberland Railway Line.
Speaking at Wednesday's meeting of the Ashington and Blyth Local Area Council, assistant county archaeologist Nick Best explained what was unearthed last summer by teams from Wessex Archaeology, working on behalf of Morgan Sindall Infrastructure.
Read more: Wanted man surrounded on A69 after two months on the run from Northumbria Police
The site is believed to be a settlement or farmstead dating back to the Iron Age, which began in 800BC in Britain. The investigations revealed the presence of a rectangular enclosure with a central circular feature, most likely a roundhouse.
Mr Best said: "In terms of levelling up, if what we're doing is levelling up I think culture has to be a part of that. I've always felt that the North East hasn't always had the investment in archaeology.
"Particularly for this part of the county, there's a perception that all the nice archaeology is in the rural areas, but it isn't. It's all around us.
"We don't often get to check here because it's more urban, but there's a wealth of archaeological inquiries here. We just don't always get the chance to do it here because this area was built up so quickly."
The site at Newsham is currently being prepared for construction of a new station and platform, which will be ready ahead of passenger trains running by the end of next year.
A final report is being prepared by the archaeological team, which is expected to be complete by April.
Read next:
