Black Ball Camp

Last updated

Black Ball Camp
Black Ball Hill - geograph.org.uk - 147022.jpg
Black Ball Hill
Location Dunster, Somerset, England
Coordinates 51°10′27″N3°27′14″W / 51.17417°N 3.45389°W / 51.17417; -3.45389
Area0.3 hectares (0.74 acres)
Built Iron Age
Official nameBlack Ball Camp: a later prehistoric defended settlement on Gallox Hill
Designated1 November 1934
Reference no.1007668
Somerset UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location of Black Ball Camp in Somerset

Black Ball Camp is an Iron Age hillfort South West of Dunster, Somerset, England on the northern summit of Gallox Hill. [1] It is a Scheduled Monument. [2]

Contents

It is also known as British Camp and is possibly associated with Bat's Castle. [3] It has a 3 metres (10 ft) high rampart and a 2 metres (7 ft) deep ditch. [1] At the beginning of the 20th century the foundations of a stone tower were visible however this is no longer present. [4]

Background

Hillforts developed in the Late Bronze and Early Iron Age, roughly the start of the first millennium BC. [5] The reason for their emergence in Britain, and their purpose, has been a subject of debate. It has been argued that they could have been military sites constructed in response to invasion from continental Europe, sites built by invaders, or a military reaction to social tensions caused by an increasing population and consequent pressure on agriculture. The dominant view since the 1960s has been that the increasing use of iron led to social changes in Britain. Deposits of iron ore were located in different places to the tin and copper ore necessary to make bronze, and as a result trading patterns shifted and the old elites lost their economic and social status. Power passed into the hands of a new group of people. [6] Archaeologist Barry Cunliffe believes that population increase still played a role and has stated "[the forts] provided defensive possibilities for the community at those times when the stress [of an increasing population] burst out into open warfare. But I wouldn't see them as having been built because there was a state of war. They would be functional as defensive strongholds when there were tensions and undoubtedly some of them were attacked and destroyed, but this was not the only, or even the most significant, factor in their construction". [7]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Plainsfield Camp</span> Iron Age earthwork in Somerset, England

Plainsfield Camp is a possible Iron Age earthwork on the Quantock Hills near Aisholt in Somerset, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cleeve Toot</span> Iron Age hillfort in Somerset, England

Cleeve Toot is an Iron Age univallate hillfort above Goblin Combe, Cleeve, Somerset, England. It is a Scheduled Ancient Monument.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Norton Camp</span> Bronze Age hillfort in Somerset, England

Norton Camp is a Bronze Age hill fort at Norton Fitzwarren near Taunton in Somerset, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bat's Castle</span> Iron Age hillfort in Somerset, England

Bats Castle is an Iron Age hillfort at the top of a 213 metres (699 ft) high hill in the parish of Carhampton south south west of Dunster in Somerset, England.

Blacker's Hill is an Iron Age hill fort at Chilcompton, 4.5 kilometres (3 mi) south west of Radstock, Somerset, England. It has been designated as a Scheduled Ancient Monument.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clatworthy Camp</span> Iron Age hillfort in Somerset, England

Clatworthy Camp is an Iron Age hill fort 3 miles (4.8 km) North West of Wiveliscombe, Somerset, England. It has been scheduled as an Ancient Monument. Due to the vulnerability to scrub and tree growth it has been added to the Heritage at Risk Register.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cow Castle</span> Iron Age hillfort in Somerset, England

Cow Castle is an Iron Age hillfort 5.75 kilometres (4 mi) West South West of Exford, Somerset, England within the Exmoor National Park. It is a Scheduled Monument. It has been added to the heritage at Risk register because of the risk from bracken.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kenwalch's Castle</span> Historic site in Somerset, England

Kenwalch's Castle is probably an Iron Age hill fort that may have been converted into a Roman fortress, near Penselwood, Somerset, England, 6.6 kilometres (4 mi) east south east of Bruton at grid reference ST747335. It is a Scheduled Ancient Monument. It is believed to be named after Cenwalh of Wessex.

Kingsdown Camp is an Iron Age hillfort at Buckland Dinham 4.5 kilometres (3 mi) South East of Radstock, Somerset, England. It is a Scheduled Monument.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sweetworthy</span> Site of two Iron Age hillforts in Somerset, England

Sweetworthy is the site of two Iron Age hill forts or enclosures at Luccombe, 4 kilometres (2 mi) south of Porlock, Somerset, England. They are on the north-facing slope of Dunkery Hill. One has a single rampart and external ditch, enclosing 0.25 hectares. The rampart is still visible and the ditch on the east side is used as a trackway. There was a defended settlement above the main site.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elworthy Barrows</span> Iron Age hillfort in Somerset, England

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.

Curdon Camp is a univallate Iron Age hill fort in the West Somerset district of Somerset, England. It is a Scheduled Ancient Monument.

Westbury Camp is a univallate Iron Age hill fort in the Mendip Hills in Somerset, England. The hill fort is situated in the parish of Rodney Stoke, approximately 1 mile (1.6 km) north-east of the village of Draycott and 1.5 miles (2.4 km) north-west of Westbury-sub-Mendip. The camp is largely situated in a hill slope. The north east defences have largely been destroyed by small quarries over the years. The narrow top of the hill bank suggests that it may have been surmounted by a dry stone wall. Along part of the east side of the camp there are traces of a berm between the bank and the outer ditch and at the western angle shallow quarry pits occur internally and externally set back from the 'rampart'.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roddenbury Hillfort</span> Iron Age hillfort in Somerset, England

Roddenbury Hillfort is a univallate Iron Age hillfort in the parish of Selwood, Somerset, England. It is a Scheduled Monument and it was on the Heritage at Risk Register in 2011. In 2012 it was announced that it was to undergo major repairs following damage by off road biking. It is close to the later Hales Castle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mounsey Castle</span> Iron Age hillfort in Somerset, England

Mounsey Castle is an Iron Age irregular triangular earthwork of 1.75 hectares north west of Dulverton, Somerset, England. It has been scheduled as an ancient monument. It has been added to the Heritage at Risk Register.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oldberry Castle</span> Iron Age hillfort in Somerset, England

Oldberry Castle is an Iron Age hill fort north west of Dulverton, Somerset, England. It lies approximately 0.5 miles (0.80 km) north-west from Dulverton, close to the Devon border. It has been designated as a Scheduled Ancient Monument.

Berry Castle is an early Roman hillslope enclosure in the West Somerset district of Somerset, England. The hill fort is situated approximately 3.2 miles (5.1 km) west from the village of Luccombe. A series of earthworks survive in Berry Castle; it dates from the late Iron Age or early Romano British period. It has been protected as a scheduled monument.

Broomfield Camp is a univallate Iron Age hill fort in the Taunton Deane district of Somerset, England. The hill fort is situated approximately 0.6 miles (0.97 km) south-east from the village of Broomfield. Broomfield Camp dates from late prehistoric or Roman times. The camp was searched in 1968 and the result uncovered a trench through a bank and ditch which produced Iron Age pottery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Long Wood Enclosure</span> Historic site in Somerset, England

Long Wood Enclosure is an enclosure which may have been a univallate Iron Age hill fort, in the West Somerset district of Somerset, England. The hill fort is situated approximately 3.5 kilometres (2.2 mi) southwest of the village of Dunster. It has been scheduled as an ancient monument.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rodhuish Common</span> Iron Age hillfort in Somerset, England

Rodhuish Common is a univallate Iron Age hill fort in the West Somerset district of Somerset, England. There is a small oval enclosure which is thought to be of Iron Age date.

References

  1. 1 2 "Black Ball Camp". Somerset Historic Environment Record. Somerset County Council . Retrieved 15 November 2010.
  2. ↑ "Black Ball Camp: a later prehistoric defended settlement on Gallox Hill, Dunster - 1007668 | Historic England". historicengland.org.uk. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  3. ↑ "Black Ball Camp". Exmoor Historic Environment Record. English Heritage . Retrieved 21 March 2011.
  4. ↑ "Black Ball Camp". Exmoor Historic Environment Record. English Heritage . Retrieved 21 March 2011.
  5. ↑ Payne, Andrew; Corney, Mark; Cunliffe, Barry (2007), The Wessex Hillforts Project: Extensive Survey of Hillfort Interiors in Central Southern England, English Heritage, p. 1, ISBN   978-1-873592-85-4
  6. ↑ Sharples, Niall M (1991), English Heritage Book of Maiden Castle, London: B. T. Batsford, pp. 71–72, ISBN   0-7134-6083-0
  7. ↑ Time Team: Swords, skulls and strongholds, Channel 4, 19 May 2008, retrieved 16 September 2009

Further reading

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.