A hillfort is a type of earthworks 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. Hillforts developed in the Late Bronze and Early Iron Age, roughly the start of the first millennium BC, and were used in many Celtic areas of central and western Europe until the Roman conquest.
Maiden Castle is an Iron Age hill fort 1.6 miles (2.6 km) south west of Dorchester, in the English county of Dorset. Hill forts were fortified hill-top settlements constructed across Britain during the Iron Age.
The Durotriges were one of the Celtic tribes living in Britain prior to the Roman invasion. The tribe lived in modern Dorset, south Wiltshire, south Somerset and Devon east of the River Axe and the discovery of an Iron Age hoard in 2009 at Shalfleet, Isle of Wight gives evidence that they lived in the western half of the island. After the Roman conquest, their main civitates, or settlement-centred administrative units, were Durnovaria and Lindinis. Their territory was bordered to the west by the Dumnonii; and to the east by the Belgae.
Dunkery Beacon at the summit of Dunkery Hill is the highest point on Exmoor and in Somerset, England. It is also the highest point in southern England outside of Dartmoor.
The Blackdown Hills are a range of hills along the Somerset-Devon border in south-western England, which were designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) in 1991.
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.
Desborough Castle is an Iron Age hill fort which lies on the southern side of the valley of the River Wye in Buckinghamshire, which runs through the Chiltern Hills from The Ridgeway and Vale of Aylesbury to the river Thames.
Maesbury Castle is an Iron Age hill fort within the parish of Croscombe on the Mendip Hills, just north of Shepton Mallet, Somerset, England. It has been listed as a Scheduled Ancient Monument.
Plainsfield Camp is a possible Iron Age earthwork on the Quantock Hills near Aisholt 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.
Maiden Castle is an Iron Age hill fort, one of many fortified hill-top settlements constructed across Britain during the Iron Age, but one of only seven in the county of Cheshire in northern England. The hill fort was probably occupied from its construction in 600 BC until the Roman conquest of Britain in the 1st century AD. At this time the Cornovii tribe are recorded to have occupied parts of the surrounding area but, because they left no distinctive pottery or metalworking, their occupation has not been verified. Since then it has been quarried and used for military exercises. It is protected as a Scheduled Ancient Monument, and is owned by the National Trust. The hill fort is open to visitors, but unrestricted access to the site has resulted in it being classified as "at high risk" from erosion.
Oakmere hill fort is an Iron Age hill fort, one of many large fortified settlements constructed across Britain during the Iron Age, but one of only seven in the county of Cheshire in northern England. It is protected as a Scheduled Ancient Monument. Despite being a low-lying site, Oakmere is still considered a hill fort.
Hillforts in Britain refers to the various hillforts within the island of Great Britain. Although the earliest such constructs fitting this description come from the Neolithic British Isles, with a few also dating to later Bronze Age Britain, British hillforts were primarily constructed during the British Iron Age. Some of these were apparently abandoned in the southern areas that were a part of Roman Britain, although at the same time, those areas of northern Britain that remained free from Roman occupation saw an increase in their construction. Some hillforts were reused in the Early Middle Ages, and in some rarer cases, into the Later Medieval period as well. By the early modern period, these had essentially all been abandoned, with many being excavated by archaeologists in the nineteenth century onward.
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 scheduled as an ancient 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.
Knook Castle is the site of an Iron Age univallate hillfort on Knook Down, near the village of Knook in Wiltshire, England, but within the civil parish of Upton Lovell. It has also been interpreted as a defensive cattle enclosure associated with nearby Romano-British settlements. It is roughly rectangular in plan with a single entrance on the south/southeast side, but with a later break in the wall on the western side.
Ffridd Faldwyn is an Iron Age Hillfort in northern Powys, in the former county of Montgomeryshire, It is sited on a prominent hill west of Montgomery, close to but higher than Montgomery Castle, overlooking the River Severn. It is one of the largest hill-forts in Wales.
The Walton Common banjo enclosure is a banjo enclosure on Walton Common, to the north of Walton in Gordano, Somerset, England. It appears to date to the late Iron Age, and may have been a high-status settlement. The term "banjo" refers to the shape. It is a round enclosure approached by a straight avenue, with the enclosure and avenue bounded by banks and ditches. The banks have been worn down and the ditches filled in over time, so it is scarcely noticeable from the ground. It showed up on photographs from the air taken in 1930 and 1946. Since then the site has become more overgrown and is hard to detect even from the air.
