Naesan Byrg | |
Location | Hampshire |
---|---|
Coordinates | 51°09′28″N1°17′57″W / 51.1579°N 1.2992°W |
Area | just under 10 acres |
History | |
Periods | Iron Age |
Site notes | |
Public access | on private farmland |
Norsebury Ring is the site of an Iron Age univallate hillfort located in Hampshire. [1] Now mostly ploughed out to the South and east, some ditches and ramparts remain within a small copsed area to the North and west, which are surprisingly intact with a small outer ditch, then a bank, then another larger ditch followed by larger bank. [2] However the trees and undergrowth hide the earthworks from immediate view.
A magnetometry survey in 1997 revealed two entrances (at the southeast and southwest) and found evidence to suggest that the site had a thriving Iron Age settlement. Bronze Age and Roman pottery has also been found at the site. [3] Originally, from one of the two entrances, a ditched avenue led to a large sub-circular enclosure some 30M. across in the centre of the fort. The enclosure may have contained a timber shrine as is thought to have existed at Danebury. [2] [4]
The name Norsebury has apparently nothing to do with the "Norsemen", but the site was called originally "Naesan Byrg" which translates as "Fort at the ness", this later became "nose", and later still, "norse". [2] [5]
The site is a scheduled ancient monument, No.131. [1]
Just to the East at grid reference SU497391 lies the site of the 'Weston Colley Group' of 13 round barrows. The 'Hampshire Treasures' resource says they have been extensively ploughed out and are now crop marks only. [2]
The site is located at grid reference SU491401 , and lies to the east of the village of Sutton Scotney, and to the west of the village of Micheldever, in the county of Hampshire. Immediately to the south lies the River Dever. The site lies just off to the western side of a shallow hill, at a level of approximately 100m AOD.
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.
Croft Ambrey is an Iron Age hill fort in Herefordshire, England.
Buckland Rings is the site of an Iron Age hill fort in the town of Lymington, Hampshire. Today, the mounds and dykes around the outside which once constituted its defences are still clearly visible, although the outer bank lies under the road on the west side, and on the south-east it is nearly ploughed-out. Excavations of the inner and middle ramparts in 1935 revealed that they were of wall-and-fill construction, retained at the front by upright timber beams and walls of cut and laid turf. The entrance, which lies on the east side, was also excavated revealing a long entrance passage and the postholes for a pair of stout gateposts. The site was bought by Hampshire County Council in 1989 to ensure its preservation, and it is open to the public from the A337 road onto which part of it faces.
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.
Frankenbury Camp is the site of an Iron Age univallate hillfort located in Hampshire. The site is on a very slight promontory overlooking the Avon Valley on the north-western edge of the New Forest. The fort encloses approximately 11 acres. It has very steep natural slopes on the west and south sides. The northeast sides are defended by a simple rampart and ditch. The original entrance on the southeast corner has since been widened. It is listed as a scheduled ancient monument no.122. The site is currently pasture, and part of Folds Farm, for the most part, although the earthworks themselves are lined with trees and the south and western parts are now encroached by woodland. Various archaeological relics have been found in the area:
Knoll Camp, or Damerham Knoll, is the site of an Iron Age univallate hill fort located in Hampshire. The fort comprises a circular earthwork containing about four acres. There is a single ditch with inner rampart and traces of counter scarp bank. The site is a scheduled ancient monument no.118. Grim's Ditch also runs throughout this area. The footpath/bridleway from the nearby long barrows of Grans Barrow and Knap Barrow runs southeast along the ridge through the centre of the hill fort, leaving through the original SE entrance, and you could easily miss the ditch and bank as you cross it. The interior is thickly wooded and brambled.
Quarley Hill is the site of an Iron Age univallate hill fort in Hampshire, southern England. The hill affords commanding views of the surrounding countryside.
Tidbury Ring is the site of an Iron Age univallate hillfort located in Hampshire. The earthworks have been heavily destroyed by ploughing, but some sections to the south remain in better condition. The entrance lies to the southeast of the fort. The interior is for the most part farmland with the earthworks now covered by small trees and undergrowth Two Roman buildings, possibly a courtyard villa complex were found within the hill-fort. The site is now listed as a scheduled ancient monument no.87
Toothill Fort, or Toothill Ring, or Toothill camp, is the site of an Iron Age univallate hill fort located in Hampshire. The site occupies an extremely strong position at the north end of a spur. Its defences comprise a single rampart and ditch with traces of a counterscarp bank in places. There is an additional scarp on the north side up to 2.0m in height where the site is weakest. The original entrance is onto the ridge to the south.
Whitsbury Castle, or Whitsbury Castle Ditches, is the site of an Iron Age univallate hillfort located near the village of Whitsbury in Hampshire. The fort is roughly pear-shaped, located on a chalk outcrop, and covering approximately sixteen acres. The defenses comprise two large ramparts with outer ditches and an additional counter scarp bank on the northern half. The original entrance was at the southwestern corner but has been destroyed by the construction of a post-medieval manor house. The site has been in use throughout the ages, with excavation revealing mesolithic activity, an association with a Bronze Age ranch boundary, an Iron Age hillfort settlement, followed much later by Anglo-Saxon renovation and reuse of the defences. The site is privately owned but is flanked externally on all sides but east by public bridleways.
Woolbury, or Woolbury Ring, is the site of an Iron Age univallate hill fort on Stockbridge Down, Hampshire, England.
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.
Grovely Castle is the site of an Iron Age univallate hill fort in the parish of Steeple Langford, in Wiltshire, England. The remaining ramparts stand approximately 3.2 m (10 ft) high, with 1.5 m (4.9 ft) deep ditches, although ploughing has damaged the earthworks in some parts of the site. Excavations have uncovered the remains of five human skeletons within the ramparts. Entrances are in the south-west and north-east corners of the hillfort. A circular enclosure of 35 to 40 m is evident in aerial photographs of the hillfort interior. There is also a later bank and ditch which runs through the hill-fort from south-west to north-east, and is probably part of an extensive surrounding Celtic field system.
Knowlton Circles are a complex of henges and earthworks in Knowlton, Dorset, England. The henge enclosing Knowlton Church is the best known and best preserved, but there are at least two other henges in the vicinity as well as numerous round barrows.
Castle Rings is a univallate hill fort in the parish of Donhead St Mary in Wiltshire, England. The site is a Scheduled Ancient Monument. Castle Rings has been dated to the Iron Age and is at an altitude of 228 metres (748 ft) upon Upper Greensand sandstone beds. The bulk of the fort enclosure lies within the boundaries of Donhead St Mary parish but some of the outlying earthworks are in the neighbouring Sedgehill and Semley parish. In the mid-1980s a metal detectorist unearthed a hoard of stater coins of the Durotriges tribe within the hill fort.
Torberry Hill is an Iron Age hillfort in the county of West Sussex, in southern England. It is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, with a list entry identification number of 1015966. The hill fort is located within the parish of Harting, within the South Downs National Park. The hill includes the remains of an Early Iron Age univallate hill fort, a Middle Iron Age promontory fort and a post-medieval post mill. The hill is a chalk spur projecting northwards from the South Downs.
Beacon Hill, also known as Harting Beacon, is a hillfort on the South Downs, in the county of West Sussex in southern England. The hillfort is located in the parish of Elsted and Treyford, in Chichester District. It is a Scheduled Ancient Monument with a list entry identification number of 1015915. The hilltop enclosure is dated to the Late Bronze Age, from the 8th to 6th centuries BC. The hillfort defences were renewed during the Late Iron Age.
Thundersbarrow Hill is an archaeological site in West Sussex, England. It is on a chalk ridge, aligned north-west to south-east, on the South Downs north of Shoreham-by-Sea.
Brandon Camp is an archaeological site, about 1 mile south of Leintwardine, in Herefordshire. England. It is a hillfort of the Iron Age, which later became a Roman fort. The site is a scheduled monument.