Post by Graveyardbride on Jan 14, 2014 19:19:17 GMT -5
Top Iron Age Hill Forts In Britain
A hill fort is a type of earthworks used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage.
The fortification usually follows the contours of a hill, consisting of one or more lines of earthworks, with stockades or defensive walls, and external ditches. Hill forts developed in the Late Bronze and Early Iron Age, roughly the start of the first millennium BC, and were in use by the ancient Britons until the Roman conquest. There are around 3,300 structures that can be classed as hillforts or similar “defended enclosures” within Britain, all worthy of considering. The following list represents ten of the most impressive examples.
1. Maiden Castle (Dorset). The name of this Iron Age hill fort (above) 1.6 miles southwest of Dorchester may be may be a modern construction indicating it appears impregnable, or it could derive from the British Celtic mai-dun, meaning a “great hill.”
The earliest archaeological evidence of human activity on the site consists of a Neolithic causeway enclosure and bank barrow. Around 1800 BC, during the Bronze Age, the site was used for growing crops before it was abandoned. Maiden Castle itself was built around 600 BC, with the early phase being a simple and unremarkable site, similar to many other hill forts in Britain and covering 16 acres. Around 450 BC, it underwent a major expansion, during which the enclosed area was almost tripled in size to 47 acres, making it the largest hill fort in Britain and by some definitions, the largest in Europe. Following the Roman conquest of Britain in the 1st century AD, Maiden Castle appears to have been abandoned, although the Romans may have had a military presence on the site. In around AD 400, a temple and ancillary buildings were constructed, and 200 years later, the hill top was entirely abandoned and used only for agriculture during the medieval period.
2. Old Oswestr (Shropshire). This is one of Britain’s most spectacular and impressive early Iron Age hill forts. Located in the Welsh Marches near Oswestry, it remains one of the best-preserved hill forts in the UK, according to English Heritage. Built on lower ground, it also is one of the most accessible, with stunning panoramic views across North Wales, Cheshire and Shropshire. Designated a Scheduled Monument (number 27556) in 1997, it is now in the guardianship of English Heritage. After the Hill Fort was abandoned, it was incorporated into Wat’s Dyke, where two sections of the dyke are adjacent to the fort. It was occupied in the 6th century BC, probably by the Cornovii or Ordivice tribe.
Source: HeritageDaily, January 2014.