Location | Hampshire |
---|---|
Coordinates | 50°58′34″N1°49′09″W / 50.9760°N 1.8193°W |
Area | 16 acres (6.5 ha) |
History | |
Periods | Iron Age |
Site notes | |
Public access | on private land |
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. [1] 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. [2] The site is privately owned but is flanked externally on all sides but east by public bridleways.
The site was designated a scheduled monument in 1925, [3] giving it protection and recognition as a nationally important archaeological site. [4]
The site is located at grid reference SU127196 , and to the north of the village of Whitsbury, in the county of Hampshire. The site lies at a level of 115m to 120 AOD.
Whitsbury is a village and civil parish in Hampshire, England, close to Fordingbridge. Whitsbury is a part of a group of villages on the edge of the Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Alfred's Castle is a small Iron Age hill fort, situated at grid reference SU277822, behind Ashdown Park in the civil parish of Ashbury in Oxfordshire. It lies 2–3 km south of the Ridgeway and is protected as a Scheduled Ancient Monument.
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.
Kelsborrow Castle is an Iron Age hill fort in Cheshire, northern England. Hill forts were fortified hill-top settlements constructed across Britain during the Iron Age. It is one of only seven hill forts in the county of Cheshire and was probably in use for only a short time. In the 19th century, a bronze palstave was recovered from the site. It is protected as a Scheduled Ancient Monument.
Bradley hill fort is an Iron Age hill fort. Hill forts were fortified hill-tops, used as settlements or temporary refuges, constructed across Britain during the Iron Age. It is the smallest of the seven hill forts in the county of Cheshire in northern England. It is protected as a Scheduled Ancient Monument.
Eddisbury hill fort, also known as Castle Ditch, is an Iron Age hill fort near Delamere, Cheshire, in northern England. Hill forts are fortified hill-top settlements constructed across Britain during the Iron Age. Eddisbury is the largest and most complex of the seven hill forts in the county of Cheshire. It was constructed before 200–100 BC and expanded in 1–50 AD. In the 1st century AD, the Romans slighted the site. It was reoccupied in the 6th–8th centuries AD, and an Anglo-Saxon burh was probably established at Eddisbury in 914. In the medieval and post-medieval periods quarrying and farming have damaged the site. Ownership is currently split between the Forestry Commission and a local farm. Eddisbury is protected as a Scheduled Ancient Monument.
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.
Helsby hill fort is an Iron Age hillfort overlooking the village of Helsby in Cheshire, northwest England. Helsby Hill has steep cliffs on the northern and western sides, providing a natural semicircular defence. Double rampart earthworks extend to the south and east to provide protection to those flanks. Two additional banks have been discovered enclosing a rock ledge on the cliff to the north side. Excavations last century revealed a wall composed of sand and rubble, revetted with stone to the back and front. The hill has a summit of 141 m AOD, and is a prominent landmark rising above the Cheshire Plain, with fine views overlooking the Mersey Estuary and into Wales. Much of the hill is owned and managed by the National Trust. The surrounding areas are well wooded to the southwest, northwest and northeast with farmland to the southeast. The hill fort is protected as a Scheduled Ancient Monument.
Woodhouse hill fort is an Iron Age hillfort between Frodsham and Helsby in Cheshire, England. It lies at the northern end of the Mid Cheshire Ridge. Woodhouse Hill has steep cliffs on the western sides, providing a natural defence. It is defended by a rampart to the north and east where the ground slopes more gently. Excavations in 1951 showed that the rampart was originally 4m high and revetted with stone on both sides. A number of small rounded stones, believed to be slingstones, have been found on the site. The hill fort is protected as a Scheduled Ancient Monument.
Castle Hill is the site of an Iron Age univallate hillfort located in the civil parish of Burley in the New Forest national park in Hampshire, England. Its single rampart and ditch earthworks enclose approximately five acres of land and is in reasonable condition for the most part, although it is cut through by tracks leading to local houses. Parts of the interior are marshy and much of it is overgrown with oak, silver birch, holly and bracken. The bank is at its highest on the eastern side, as the west side slopes steeply away. Hampshire treasures lists the site as a Scheduled Ancient Monument. According to legend, the hill apparently was once the home to a local dragon, duly slain by a knight from the nearby village of Brook; and thus the local pub at Brook bears the name of the Green Dragon.
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.
Norsebury Ring is the site of an Iron Age univallate hillfort located in Hampshire. 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. However the trees and undergrowth hide the earthworks from immediate view.
Woolbury, or Woolbury Ring, is the site of an Iron Age univallate hill fort on Stockbridge Down, Hampshire, England.
Bussock Camp is the site of an Iron Age bivallate hillfort located in Berkshire, England. It has a double bank and ditch to the south and east, with only a single bank remaining the north and western sides. The entrance is to the north of the site and is believed to be original, and the site encloses approximately 11 acres.
Bincknoll Castle, or Bincknoll Camp, is the site of a possible Iron Age univallate hillfort in Wiltshire, England.
Castle Ditches is the site of an Iron Age trivallate hillfort in the south-east of Tisbury parish in Wiltshire, England.
Coxall Knoll is a hill lying on the boundary of Shropshire and Herefordshire, England; it is near Bucknell in Shropshire and Buckton and Coxall in Herefordshire. On the summit is an Iron Age hillfort, a scheduled monument.
King John's Hill is the site of an Iron Age hillfort located in Hampshire, in southeast England. The hill is situated in the parish of Worldham, in East Hampshire District. It is a Scheduled Ancient Monument with a list entry identification number of 1020314, and a Monument Number of 243207.