| Cadbury Hill | |
|---|---|
 The view from the Yatton side of Cadbury Hill | |
| Highest point | |
| Elevation | 81 m (266 ft) |
| Prominence | 26 m (85 ft) |
| Geography | |
| Location | North Somerset, England |
| OS grid | ST442649 |
| Topo map | OS Landrangers 171, 172 |
Cadbury Hill is a small hill, mostly in the civil parish of Congresbury, overlooking the village of Yatton in North Somerset. On its summit stands an Iron Age hill fort, which is a Scheduled Ancient Monument. [1]
Hill forts developed in the Late Bronze and Early Iron Age, roughly the start of the 1st millennium BC. [2] The reason for their emergence in Britain, and their purpose has been debated. 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. [3] 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". [4]
In archaeological circles, the hill fort is known as Cadbury-Congresbury in order to differentiate it from the Cadbury Castle hillfort in South Cadbury. It appears to have been constructed in the Iron Age when one or more ramparts, with walls and ditches, were built on the steep slopes of the hill to defend an area covering some eight and a half acres. The remains of Iron Age round houses may still be seen inside. The hill fort was refortified around 400, after the urban collapse associated with the withdraw of Rome, and occupation extended into the sub-Roman period. Before c.500, there is evidence for the presence of a turf and timber watchtower, a timber hall and (sporadic) continued trade with Byzantium, perhaps selling tin. [5]
It has been suggested that this was the monastery of Saint Congar after whom Congresbury was named. [6]
Excavation took place between 1968 and 1973, and was published in 1992 [7] Mediterranean imports were found with 173 A-ware and 547 B-ware sherds and around 48 glass vessels. These suggest that the hill was the site of an elite settlement.
Cadbury Hill is a designated Local Nature Reserve. [8] [9] In 2009, a 19th-century agricultural stock pond – previously hidden by undergrowth – was restored by the Yatton & Congresbury Wildlife Action Group (YACWAG). The Local Nature Reserve comprises ancient semi-natural woodland, scrub and unimproved grassland. Species of interest include marsh tit, noctule bat, slow worm, wood anemone, bluebell, betony, small scabious, rock rose, small leaved lime. On the northern limestone slope grow hundreds of common spotted orchids. The hill fort itself has many ant hills, which are visited by green woodpeckers. [10]
The grassy plateau of the hill fort is owned and managed by Yatton and Congresbury Parish Councils and the rest, including a car park and former landfilled quarry, by North Somerset Council.
A hillfort is a type of earthwork used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze Age or Iron Age. Some were used in the post-Roman period. The fortification usually follows the contours of a hill and consists of one or more lines of earthworks, with stockades or defensive walls, and external ditches.
Yatton is a village and civil parish within the unitary authority of North Somerset, which falls within the ceremonial county of Somerset, England. It is located 11 miles (18 km) south-west of Bristol. Its population in 2011 was 7,552. The parish includes Claverham, a small village which was originally a farming hamlet.
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.
Cadbury Camp is an Iron Age hill fort in Somerset, England, near the village of Tickenham. It is a scheduled monument. Although primarily known as a fort during the Iron Age it is likely, from artefacts, including a bronze spear or axe head, discovered at the site, that it was first used in the Bronze Age and still occupied through the Roman era into the sub-Roman period when the area became part of a Celtic kingdom. The name may mean "Fort of Cador" - Cado(r) being possibly the regional king or warlord controlling Somerset, Bristol, and South Gloucestershire, in the middle to late 5th century. Cador has been associated with Arthurian England, though the only evidence for this is the reference in the Life of St. Carantoc to Arthur and Cador ruling from Dindraithou and having the power over western Somerset to grant Carantoc's plea to build a church at Carhampton. Geoffrey of Monmouth invented the title 'Duke of Cornwall' for Cador in his misleading History of the Kings of Britain.
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.
Cannington Camp is a Bronze Age and Iron Age hill fort near Cannington, Somerset, England. It is a Scheduled Ancient Monument.
Cleeve Toot is an Iron Age univallate hillfort above Goblin Combe, Cleeve, Somerset, England. It is a Scheduled Ancient Monument.
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.
Kingsdown Camp is an Iron Age hill fort at Buckland Dinham 4.5 kilometres (3 mi) South East of Radstock, Somerset, England. It is a Scheduled Ancient Monument.
Backwell Hillfort is an Iron Age hill fort situated approximately 1.1 miles (1.8 km) from Backwell in the North Somerset district of Somerset, England. The hill fort was first discovered in 1933 with two of the three sides of the fort protected by a large ditch and a bank. In 1956, the site was nearly completely destroyed by quarrying at Coles Quarry, which ceased production in the 1970's.
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'.
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.
Taps Combe Camp is an Iron Age hill fort in North Somerset, England. The hill fort is situated approximately 1.8 miles (2.9 km) east from the village of Brockley. The hill fort is shaped a lot like a "D", and is approximately 50 metres (160 ft) by 50 metres (160 ft) wide.
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.
Tunley Camp is an vallate Iron Age hill fort situated approximately 0.8 miles (1.3 km) north-east from the small village of Camerton in the Bath and North East Somerset district of Somerset, England. The hill fort comprises the slight earthwork remains of a univallate Iron Age hillfort which now nearly ploughed down.
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.
King's Castle is an Iron Age enclosed hilltop settlement at the south-western edge of the Mendip Hills near Wells in Somerset, England. Though there are many prehistoric sites in the surrounding area, it remains one of the earliest known settlements in the immediate vicinity of Wells, and may have been a precursor to the present day city. It consists of two or three interlinked sub-enclosures, with what appears to be a field system extending to the east; an unusual layout, the site remains relatively little studied and has not been archaeologically excavated. It is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, and shares its name with the surrounding King's Castle Wood—today a Somerset Wildlife Trust nature reserve—though this name is probably a modern invention.
