Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
There are 1,224 hill forts in England. [1] Although some originate in the Bronze Age, the majority of hill forts in Britain were constructed during the Iron Age (about 8th century BC to the Roman conquest of Britain). There was a trend in the 2nd century BC for hill forts to fall out of use. [2]
The spellings "hill fort", "hill-fort" and "hillfort" are all used in the archaeological literature. The Monument Type Thesaurus published by the Forum on Information Standards in Heritage lists hillfort as the preferred term. [9] They all refer to an elevated site with one or more ramparts made of earth, stone and/or wood, with an external ...
The fort is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, [2] and the whole of the hill is a geological Site of Special Scientific Interest, [3] a country park operated by Somerset Council, and is visited by over 250,000 people each year. [4] It covers an area of 210 acres (85 ha), making it one of the largest hillforts in Britain. [5]
Around 450 BC it was greatly expanded and the enclosed area nearly tripled in size to 19 ha (47 acres), making it the largest hill fort in Britain and, by some definitions, the largest in Europe. At the same time, Maiden Castle's defences were made more complex with the addition of further ramparts and ditches. Around 100 BC, habitation at the ...
Danebury in Hampshire, is the most thoroughly investigated Iron Age hillfort in Britain, as well as the most extensively published. [13] Cadbury Castle, Somerset is the largest amongst forts reoccupied following the end of Roman rule, to defend against pirate raids, and the Anglo-Saxon invasions.
Oldbury Camp (also known as Oldbury hill fort) is the largest Iron Age hill fort in south-eastern England. [1] It was built in the 1st century BC by Celtic British tribes on a hilltop west of Ightham, Kent, in a strategic location overlooking routes through the Kentish Weald. The fort comprises a bank and ditch enclosing an area of about 50 ...
Cissbury Ring is the largest hill fort in Sussex, the second largest in England [5] and one of the largest in Europe overall, covering some 60 acres (24 hectares). [6] The earthworks that form the fortifications were built around the beginning of the Middle Iron-Age possibly around 250 BC [7] but abandoned in the period 50 BC - 50 AD.
It is the largest Iron Age site of its type in south Wales and also one of the largest in Great Britain. [2] The old parish church , St Mary's , and a small ringwork , almost certainly a medieval castle site probably contemporary with the church, stand within the hillfort on the north-eastern side.