Several well preserved Bronze Age settlements exist in the area around Kilham, and a cairn on Kilham Hill, excavated in 1905, was found to conceal a cist containing burnt bones, thought to date from the period.
 A bronze rapier blade dating from 1500–1000 BC, found near the Bowmont Water in the 19th century, and now in the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh, provides further evidence of Bronze Age activity in the parish.

Iron Age hillforts are found throughout the Cheviot Hills, and the parish contains examples at Bowmont Hill, Kilham Hill, Pawston Camp, and Wester Hill.
 Such hillforts were not necessarily defensible, and the small interior area of most suggests they were not permanent settlements.
 Although some may have served as defended farmsteads, others are likely to have been animal enclosures, market places or places of worship.
 An enclosure at Barley Hill, in the north of the parish, is considered to have been a small farmstead, consisting of roundhouses and adjacent stockyards.

Towards the end of the first millennium BC, all of the remaining upland forest in the area had been cleared, and increasing numbers of settlements or homesteads were established on the high moorland.
 Some of these appear to have been built within the ramparts of earlier hillforts, which had been abandoned for some time.
  A well-preserved settlement at Longknowe is thought to be Romano-British, although this part of Northumberland lay beyond the Roman frontier for much of the period of occupation.
 Small enclosed homesteads such as this are likely to have continued in use for several centuries, and were probably only abandoned as the population moved to lower lying hamlets during the Early Medieval period.

In 651 King Oswine granted 12 named vills, or townships, including Shotton, and perhaps Thornington, along with a large tract of land beside the Bowmont Water, to Saint Cuthbert.
The villagers would have been required to hand over the major proportion of any surplus produce and labour from these communities to the church.

By the 13th century, Kilham formed one of the constituent manors of the barony of Wark on Tweed.
 The barony had been established by King Henry I, and granted to Walter L'espec, one of his principal agents of government in Northern England.
 The lord of the manor was Michael of Kilham, although he did not possess the whole township, part being held by Kirkham Priory in North Yorkshire, which had been founded by the barons of Wark.
 In 1269 it was recorded that the priory had 1,000 sheep feeding on the "great moor" of Kilham.
Land at Shotton and Coldsmouth was held by Kelso Abbey in the Scottish Borders.
The manorial lordship passed through various hands to the Greys of Chillingham Castle, who eventually consolidated ownership of the whole township, in the 17th century acquiring the former Kirkham Priory holdings, which had earlier been sold by the crown after the dissolution of the Monasteries.

A bastle, or fortified farmhouse, was built at the north end of the village in the late 16th or early 17th centuries.

Right up to the end of the 16th century, Kilham had suffered repeated Scottish incursions.
 Every valuation of the village's lands in the 15th century revealed a state of waste and destruction.
In 1541 the lack of any defensive structure was criticised by Sir Robert Bowes and Sir Ralph Ellerker, the Border Commissioners, who strongly urged that a tower be built in the village.
They also reported on the tower at Howtel, which had been "rased and casten downe" during an invasion in 1497.
 Howtel Tower is mentioned again by Sir Henry Hadston, who in 1584 reported to Queen Elizabeth I that it was one of a number of towers needing repair.
Sir Robert Carey, Lord Warden of the Marches, in 1597 reported to the Privy Council of England:
On the 14th instant, at night, four Scotsmen broke up a poor man's door at Kilham on this march, taking his cattle.
The town followed, rescued the goods, sore hurt three of the Scots, and brought them back prisoners.
The fourth Scot raised his country meanwhile, and at daybreak 4
Several well preserved Bronze Age settlements exist in the area around Kilham, and a cairn on Kilham Hill, excavated in 1905, was found to conceal a cist containing burnt bones, thought to date from the period.  A bronze rapier blade dating from 1500–1000 BC, found near the Bowmont Water in the 19th century, and now in the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh, provides further evidence of Bronze Age activity in the parish.
Iron Age hillforts are found throughout the Cheviot Hills, and the parish contains examples at Bowmont Hill, Kilham Hill, Pawston Camp, and Wester Hill.  Such hillforts were not necessarily defensible, and the small interior area of most suggests they were not permanent settlements.  Although some may have served as defended farmsteads, others are likely to have been animal enclosures, market places or places of worship.  An enclosure at Barley Hill, in the north of the parish, is considered to have been a small farmstead, consisting of roundhouses and adjacent stockyards.
Towards the end of the first millennium BC, all of the remaining upland forest in the area had been cleared, and increasing numbers of settlements or homesteads were established on the high moorland.  Some of these appear to have been built within the ramparts of earlier hillforts, which had been abandoned for some time.   A well-preserved settlement at Longknowe is thought to be Romano-British, although this part of Northumberland lay beyond the Roman frontier for much of the period of occupation.  Small enclosed homesteads such as this are likely to have continued in use for several centuries, and were probably only abandoned as the population moved to lower lying hamlets during the Early Medieval period.
In 651 King Oswine granted 12 named vills, or townships, including Shotton, and perhaps Thornington, along with a large tract of land beside the Bowmont Water, to Saint Cuthbert. The villagers would have been required to hand over the major proportion of any surplus produce and labour from these communities to the church.
By the 13th century, Kilham formed one of the constituent manors of the barony of Wark on Tweed.  The barony had been established by King Henry I, and granted to Walter L'espec, one of his principal agents of government in Northern England.  The lord of the manor was Michael of Kilham, although he did not possess the whole township, part being held by Kirkham Priory in North Yorkshire, which had been founded by the barons of Wark.  In 1269 it was recorded that the priory had 1,000 sheep feeding on the "great moor" of Kilham. Land at Shotton and Coldsmouth was held by Kelso Abbey in the Scottish Borders. The manorial lordship passed through various hands to the Greys of Chillingham Castle, who eventually consolidated ownership of the whole township, in the 17th century acquiring the former Kirkham Priory holdings, which had earlier been sold by the crown after the dissolution of the Monasteries.
A bastle, or fortified farmhouse, was built at the north end of the village in the late 16th or early 17th centuries.
Right up to the end of the 16th century, Kilham had suffered repeated Scottish incursions.  Every valuation of the village's lands in the 15th century revealed a state of waste and destruction. In 1541 the lack of any defensive structure was criticised by Sir Robert Bowes and Sir Ralph Ellerker, the Border Commissioners, who strongly urged that a tower be built in the village. They also reported on the tower at Howtel, which had been "rased and casten downe" during an invasion in 1497.  Howtel Tower is mentioned again by Sir Henry Hadston, who in 1584 reported to Queen Elizabeth I that it was one of a number of towers needing repair. Sir Robert Carey, Lord Warden of the Marches, in 1597 reported to the Privy Council of England:
On the 14th instant, at night, four Scotsmen broke up a poor man's door at Kilham on this march, taking his cattle. The town followed, rescued the goods, sore hurt three of the Scots, and brought them back prisoners. The fourth Scot raised his country meanwhile, and at daybreak 4
Kilham, Northumberland