LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade
Satellite Imagery
LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade
Satellite Imagery
Scroll left/right to view further images.
HER: Shropshire 186 (None)
NMR: SO 49 NW 9 (109213)
SM: 1007697
NGR: SO 406973
X: 340644 Y: 297315 (OSGB36)
In common with nearby Castle Ring, Stitt Hill (Atlas No 0059), Ratlinghope has been questioned as a true hillfort, notably by Guilbert (1976), and it has been suggested that it is related more to the plateau enclosures recognised in similar topographical situations in southern England (Cunliffe 1991, 37-9). Located on the end of the S pointing spur of Ratlinghope Hill, with steep slopes and valley to the W and steep gully to the E. To the N there is a cross-bank rampart 10m wide and 0.9m high, with associated ditch 5m wide and 0.9m deep. The rampart follows the shoulder for 30m on the E side and 40m on the W, with scarping to the S angle. There is a major gap on the E side, but no evidence of an entrance. The site is in general good order and devoted to upland pasture. The site could have originated as a spur-dyke, later adapted as an enclosure. Undated. On 1st Ed OS map (1885-1900).
Citizen Science: ✗
Reliability of Data: Confirmed
Reliability of Interpretation: Confirmed
X: -320292 Y: 6903922 (EPSG: 3857)
Longitude: -2.8772293622398872 Latitude: 52.57037820016401 (EPSG:4326)
Country: England
Current County or Unitary Authority: Shropshire
Historic County: Shropshire
Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland: Ratlinghope
Bracken problem and minor disturbance, but generally improving in stability.
| Extant | ✓ |
| Cropmark | ✗ |
| Likely Destroyed | ✗ |
Grazed upland pasture. Bracken.
| Woodland | ✗ |
| Commercial Forestry Plantation | ✗ |
| Parkland | ✗ |
| Pasture (Grazing) | ✓ |
| Arable | ✗ |
| Scrub/Bracken | ✓ |
| Bare Outcrop | ✗ |
| Heather/Moorland | ✗ |
| Heath | ✗ |
| Built-up | ✗ |
| Coastal Grassland | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
Site generally follows the contours. A cross bank and ditch with scarping elsewhere, encloses a spur on Ratinghope Hill.
| Contour Fort | ✓ |
| Partial Contour Fort | ✗ |
| Promontory Fort | ✗ |
| Hillslope Fort | ✗ |
| Level Terrain Fort | ✗ |
| Marsh Fort | ✗ |
| Multiple Enclosure Fort | ✗ |
| Hilltop | ✓ |
| Coastal Promontory | ✗ |
| Inland Promontory | ✗ |
| Valley Bottom | ✗ |
| Knoll/Hillock/Outcrop | ✗ |
| Ridge | ✗ |
| Cliff/Plateau-edge/Scarp | ✗ |
| Hillslope | ✗ |
| Lowland | ✗ |
| Spur | ✗ |
Dominant Topographic Feature: Undulating Ratlinghope Hill.
| North | ✗ |
| Northeast | ✗ |
| East | ✗ |
| Southeast | ✗ |
| South | ✗ |
| Southwest | ✗ |
| West | ✗ |
| Northwest | ✗ |
| Level | ✓ |
Altitude: 350.0m
N/A
None
Reliability: D - None
| Pre 1200BC | ✗ |
| 1200BC - 800BC | ✗ |
| 800BC - 400BC | ✗ |
| 400BC - AD50 | ✗ |
| AD50 - AD400 | ✗ |
| AD400 - AD 800 | ✗ |
| Post AD800 | ✗ |
| Unknown | ✓ |
| Pre Hillfort: | None |
| Post Hillfort: | None |
On 1st Ed OS map (1885-1900). Air Photograph Interpretation RCHME: Marches Uplands NMP 1993-2000.Shropshire Council survey 2012.
| Other (2009): | Visited by Hillfort Study Group |
| Other (2012): | Shropshire Council survey. |
| 1st Identified Map Depiction (None): | 1st Ed OS |
| Other (None): | Air Photograph Interpretation RCHME: Marches Uplands NMP. |
None
Spring located 0.1km outside the fort.
| None | ✓ |
| Spring | ✗ |
| Stream | ✗ |
| Pool | ✗ |
| Flush | ✗ |
| Well | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
None
| No Known Features | ✓ |
| Round Stone Structures | ✗ |
| Rectangular Stone Structures | ✗ |
| Curvilinear Platforms | ✗ |
| Other Roundhouse Evidence | ✗ |
| Pits | ✗ |
| Quarry Hollows | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
None
| No Known Excavation | ✓ |
| Pits | ✗ |
| Postholes | ✗ |
| Roundhouses | ✗ |
| Rectangular Structures | ✗ |
| Roads/Tracks | ✗ |
| Quarry Hollows | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
| Nothing Found | ✗ |
None
| No Known Geophysics | ✓ |
| Pits | ✗ |
| Roundhouses | ✗ |
| Rectangular Structures | ✗ |
| Roads/Tracks | ✗ |
| Quarry Hollows | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
| Nothing Found | ✗ |
None
| No Known Finds | ✓ |
| Pottery | ✗ |
| Metal | ✗ |
| Metalworking | ✗ |
| Human Bones | ✗ |
| Animal Bones | ✗ |
| Lithics | ✗ |
| Environmental | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
None
| APs Not Checked | ✓ |
| None | ✗ |
| Roundhouses | ✗ |
| Rectangular Structures | ✗ |
| Pits | ✗ |
| Postholes | ✗ |
| Roads/Tracks | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
No evidence of an entrance.
| 0: | None |
| 2: | None |
Guard Chambers: ✗
Chevaux de Frise: ✗
To N there is a cross-bank rampart 10m wide and 0.9m high, with associated ditch 5m wide and 0.9m deep. The rampart follows the shoulder for 30m on the E side and 40m on the W, with scarping to the S angle. There is a major gap on the E side,
| Area 1: | 0.72ha. |
| Total: | 0.72ha. |
Total Footprint Area: Noneha.
There is a major gap in the ramparts/scarp on the east.
| ✗ | None |
| ✗ | There is a major gap in the ramparts/scarp on the E. |
| NE Quadrant: | 1 |
| SE Quadrant: | 1 |
| SW Quadrant: | 1 |
| NW Quadrant: | 1 |
| Total: | 1 |
| Partial Univallate | ✗ |
| Univallate | ✓ |
| Partial Bivallate | ✗ |
| Bivallate | ✗ |
| Partial Multivallate | ✗ |
| Multivallate | ✗ |
| Unknown | ✗ |
| Partial Univallate | ✗ |
| Univallate | ✗ |
| Partial Bivallate | ✗ |
| Bivallate | ✗ |
| Partial Multivallate | ✗ |
| Multivallate | ✗ |
Possible earthen bank.
| None | ✗ |
| Earthen Bank | ✓ |
| Stone Wall | ✗ |
| Rubble | ✗ |
| Wall-walk | ✗ |
| Evidence of Timber | ✗ |
| Vitrification | ✗ |
| Other Burning | ✗ |
| Palisade | ✗ |
| Counter Scarp Bank | ✗ |
| Berm | ✗ |
| Unfinished | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
None
| None | ✗ |
| Earthen Bank | ✗ |
| Stone Wall | ✗ |
| Murus Duplex | ✗ |
| Timber-framed | ✗ |
| Timber-laced | ✗ |
| Vitrification | ✗ |
| Other Burning | ✗ |
| Palisade | ✗ |
| Counter Scarp Bank | ✗ |
| Berm | ✗ |
| Unfinished | ✗ |
| No Known Excavation | ✓ |
| Other | ✗ |
| ✗ | None |
| ✓ | The associated ditch is 5m wide and 0.9m deep. |
Number of Ditches: 1
| ✗ | None |
Cunliffe, B. 1991. Iron Age communiies in Britain, London: Routledge, 3rd Edn.
Dorling, P. and Wigley, A. 2012. Assessment of the archaeological and conservation status of major later prehistoric enclosures in Herefordshire and Shropshire, EH PNUM, Version 3.2, Hereford and Shrewsbury: Herefordshire Council/Shropshire Council.
Guilbert, G.C. 1975. Ratlinghope/Stitt Hill, Shropshire: Earthwork enclosures and cross-dykes, Bull Board of Celt Stud, XXIV, 363-73.
Page, W. ed. 1908. Victoria County History of Shropshire, 1, 357 Institute of Historical Research.
Atlas of Hillforts:
Wikidata:
This work is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
and should be cited as:
Lock, Gary and Ralston, Ian. 2024. Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland. Available at: https://hillforts.arch.ox.ac.uk
Document Version 1.1