| Norton Camp | |
|---|---|
 Plan of earthworks at Norton Camp | |
| Location | Norton Fitzwarren, Somerset, England |
| Coordinates | 51°01′50″N3°09′04″W / 51.03056°N 3.15111°W Coordinates: 51°01′50″N3°09′04″W / 51.03056°N 3.15111°W |
| Area | 5 hectares (12 acres) |
| Built | Bronze Age |
| Official name | Norton Camp |
| Reference no. | 189007 [1] |
  Location of Norton Camp in Somerset | |
Norton Camp is a Bronze Age hill fort at Norton Fitzwarren near Taunton in Somerset, England.
Hill forts developed in the Late Bronze and Early Iron Age, roughly the start of the 1st millennium BCE. [2] 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. [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]
The earthwork consists of a single circular rampart ( univallate ) up to 3 m high, with three holloway entrances dominated by linear banks extending out from the main perimeter. The ring has a diameter of about 250 m (820 ft), enclosing an area of 5 hectares (12 acres). The fort is at the top of low hill 50 m (160 ft) about 1 km north of the River Tone.
The site was excavated by Mr. H. St. George Gray in July 1908. The original ditch was shown to be 2.75 m (9 ft 0 in) deep. Pottery shards dated from the Bronze Age and the Roman period, but no evidence of occupation from other periods.
Further excavations in 1968–1971 by Nancy and Philip Langmaid found flints from the mesolithic and neolithic, as well as extensive hoards of bronze metalwork, 9 bracelets, an axe-head and sword moulds from the Bronze Age (700 BCE). [5] They also found evidence of refortifiction in the Iron Age, from the period before Roman occupation (around 43 CE).
In 1981, a neolithic axe-head made from greensand chert was found. There is further evidence from aerial photographs of cropmarks and post holes, possibly from roundhouses.
The site is next to Norton Manor Camp, home of 40 Commando, Royal Marines.
The Ancient Monument is included on the Heritage at Risk Register due to its vulnerability to arable ploughing. [6]
In 2019 the site was bought by Somerset West and Taunton Council in collaboration with Somerset Heritage Trust. The whole site is now open to the public.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 hill fort at Buckland Dinham 4.5 kilometres (3 mi) South East of Radstock, Somerset, England. It is a Scheduled Ancient Monument.
Banwell Camp is a univallate Iron Age hill fort in the North Somerset district of Somerset, England. The hill fort is situated approximately 1.6 miles (2.6 km) east from the Village of Banwell. Some artefacts found on the site dates back to the Bronze Age and the Stone Age. In places it is surrounded by a 4 metres (13 ft) high 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'.
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.
Charterhouse Camp is a univallate Iron Age hillfort in the Mendip district of Somerset, England. The hillfort is situated approximately 0.6 miles (0.97 km) east from the village of Charterhouse. There is some evidence, in the form of burials in local caves, of human occupation since the late Neolithic times and the early Bronze Age. The site is associated with Charterhouse Roman Town and may have been the site of Iscalis. The site is a scheduled monument.
Highbury Hill in Clutton, Somerset, England is the site of the earthwork remains of an Iron Age univallate hillfort. It occupies an area of woodland at the end of a narrow ridge. It is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, meaning that it is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change.
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.
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.
Castles Camp is a univallate Iron Age hill fort in the Taunton Deane district of Somerset, England. The hill fort is situated approximately 1 mile (1.6 km) west from the village of Bathealton. A few trees a scattered around the camp's defences along with Roman coins being found in previous years.
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.