Location | Wiltshire |
---|---|
Coordinates | 51°29′07″N1°47′11″W / 51.4853°N 1.7865°W |
Type | Hillfort |
Area | 12 acres (4.9 ha) |
History | |
Periods | Iron Age |
Site notes | |
Public access | yes, The Ridgeway |
Official name | Barbury Castle: a hillfort and bowl barrow |
Designated | 18 August 1882 |
Reference no. | 1014557 |
Barbury Castle is a scheduled hillfort in Wiltshire, England. [1] It is one of several such forts found along the ancient Ridgeway route. The site, which lies within the Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, has been managed as a country park by Swindon Borough Council since 1971. It is on Barbury Hill, a local vantage point, which, under ideal weather conditions, commands a view across to the Cotswolds and the River Severn. It has two deep defensive ditches and ramparts. [2]
The site was first occupied some 2,500 years ago, and was then in use during the Roman occupation of the area. Archaeological investigations at Barbury have shown evidence of a number of buildings, indicating a village or military garrison at this time.
In the 6th century the site became part of the Saxon kingdom of Wessex, following the defeat of the Romano-British at the Battle of Beranburgh, Beran Byrig or Beranbyrig in AD 556. [3] Centuries later the area was a favourite haunt of the 19th-century writer Richard Jefferies, who lived an hour's walk away at Coate. [2] The site was designated as a scheduled monument in 1882. [1]
In World War II the War Ministry appropriated the site for US Army Air Force anti-aircraft guns; the bases for these are apparently visible as hollows around the edge of the fort interior. [4]
In 1996, a geophysical survey revealed traces of 40 hut circles inside the castle. [4] A reconstruction of an Iron Age roundhouse was built on the site in 2006 but was destroyed by vandals in October 2008. [5]
In 2009, English Heritage (now Historic England) carried out a National Mapping Programme project which comprised an interpretation, transcription and analysis of all archaeological features visible on aerial photographs in the environs of Barbury Castle. [6]
Barbury Castle is at grid reference SU149762 , about 5 miles (8 km) south of Swindon and the M4, on the northern edge of the Marlborough Downs within the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The site is close to the Ridgeway long-distance footpath, which runs east–west along the edge of the downs. In the surrounding area there are round barrows, Celtic field systems and 18th-19th century flint workings. [2]
The Ridgeway is a ridgeway or ancient trackway described as Britain's oldest road. The section clearly identified as an ancient trackway extends from Wiltshire along the chalk ridge of the Berkshire Downs to the River Thames at the Goring Gap, part of the Icknield Way which ran, not always on the ridge, from Salisbury Plain to East Anglia. The route was adapted and extended as a National Trail, created in 1972. The Ridgeway National Trail follows the ancient Ridgeway from Overton Hill, near Avebury, to Streatley, then follows footpaths and parts of the ancient Icknield Way through the Chiltern Hills to Ivinghoe Beacon in Buckinghamshire. The National Trail is 87 miles (140 km) long.
Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to the west. The largest settlement is Swindon, and Trowbridge is the county town.
Uffington Castle is an early Iron Age univallate hillfort in Oxfordshire, England. It covers about 3.2 ha and is surrounded by two earth banks separated by a ditch with an entrance in the western end. A second entrance in the eastern end was apparently blocked up a few centuries after it was built. The original defensive ditch was V-shaped with a small box rampart in front and a larger one behind it. Timber posts stood on the ramparts. Later the ditch was deepened and the extra material dumped on top of the ramparts to increase their size. A parapet wall of sarsen stones lined the top of the innermost rampart. It is very close to the Uffington White Horse on White Horse Hill.
Wroughton is a large village and civil parish in northeast Wiltshire, England. It is part of the Borough of Swindon and lies along the A4361 between Swindon and Avebury; the road into Swindon crosses the M4 motorway between junctions 15 and 16. The village is about 2.2 miles (3.5 km) south of Swindon town centre on the edge of the Marlborough Downs, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The town of Marlborough is about 11 miles (18 km) to the south, and the World Heritage Site at Avebury is about 7 miles (11 km) to the south.
Cadbury Castle is a Bronze and Iron Age hillfort in the civil parish of South Cadbury in the English county of Somerset. It is a scheduled monument and has been associated with King Arthur's legendary court at Camelot.
The North Wessex Downs are an area of chalk downland landscapes located in the English counties of Berkshire, Hampshire, Oxfordshire and Wiltshire. The North Wessex Downs has been designated as a National Landscape since 1972.
Liddington Castle, locally called Liddington Camp, is a late Bronze Age and early Iron Age univallate hillfort in Liddington parish in the English county of Wiltshire, and a scheduled monument.
Chiseldon is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The village lies on the edge of the Marlborough Downs, a mile south of junction 15 of the M4 motorway, on the A346 between Swindon and Marlborough. The large village of Wroughton is 2.5 miles (4 km) to the west. The parish includes the hamlets of Badbury, Badbury Wick, Draycot Foliat, Hodson, and Ridgeway View; the ancient manor of Burderop is also within the parish.
Chanctonbury Ring is a prehistoric hill fort atop Chanctonbury Hill on the South Downs, on the border of the civil parishes of Washington and Wiston in the English county of West Sussex. A ridgeway, now part of the South Downs Way, runs along the hill. It forms part of an ensemble of associated historical features created over a span of more than 2,000 years, including round barrows dating from the Bronze Age to the Saxon periods and dykes dating from the Iron Age and Roman periods.
Wittenham Clumps are a pair of wooded chalk hills in the Thames Valley, in the civil parish of Little Wittenham, in the historic county of Berkshire, although since 1974 administered as part of South Oxfordshire district.
Segsbury Camp or Segsbury Castle is an Iron Age hillfort on the crest of the Berkshire Downs, near the Ridgeway above Wantage, in the Vale of White Horse district of Oxfordshire, England. It is in Letcombe Regis civil parish and is also called Letcombe Castle.
Burledge Hill is on the southern edge of the village of Bishop Sutton, Somerset, England. It is the site of a Site of Special Scientific Interest and an univallate Iron Age hillfort.
Roundway Down and Covert is an area of sloping chalk grassland close to the hamlet of Roundway, near Devizes in Wiltshire, England. It is part of the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. At the summit of the slope are ancient earthworks, evidence of a Bronze Age human settlement and Iron Age hillfort.
Elworthy Barrows is an unfinished Iron Age hill fort, rather than Bronze Age barrows, which is designated a scheduled ancient monument (No:188401). It is located in the civil parish of Brompton Ralph near Wiveliscombe, Somerset, England. It covers an area of 3.5 hectares and is surrounded by a bank and ditch.
Ladle Hill is a 10.5-hectare (26-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest west of Kingsclere in Hampshire. It is also a Scheduled Monument.
Scratchbury Camp is the site of an Iron Age univallate hillfort on Scratchbury Hill, overlooking the Wylye valley about 1 km northeast of the village of Norton Bavant in Wiltshire, England. The fort covers an area of 37 acres (15 ha) and occupies the summit of the hill on the edge of Salisbury Plain, with its four-sided shape largely following the natural contours of the hill.
Chiselbury is the site of an Iron Age univallate hillfort in Wiltshire, England. The hillfort is sub-circular in plan, and encloses an area of approximately 10.5 acres (460,000 sq ft). It is defined by an earthen rampart up to 3.6 metres (12 ft) in height and an external ditch, up to a maximum of 1.6 metres (5.2 ft) in depth. A gap in the south-eastern side of the rampart, and a corresponding causeway across the ditch, is thought to be the original entrance and is associated with a small D-shaped embanked enclosure, which is apparently visible on aerial photographs. Although the enclosure has subsequently been degraded by ploughing, it is still apparent as a series of low earthworks.
Sigwells is a hamlet located in an area rich in archaeology remains, overlooking Cadbury Castle in Somerset, England.
Media related to Barbury Castle at Wikimedia Commons