Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland

EN0161 Wigginton Heath, Oxfordshire

LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade

LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade

Satellite Imagery

Satellite Imagery

Scroll left/right to view further images.

HER:  Oxfordshire 43 (MOX4026)

NMR:  None (None)

SM:  None

NGR:  SP 3805 3525

X:  438055  Y:  235255  (OSGB36)

Summary

N of Wigginton, probably on a hillslope although exact position is unclear. A small polygonal enclosure of c.0.3ha now ploughed away, described in 1705 (Plot) and 1841 (Beesley) as nearly levelled but with a low bank, shown on the 1st edition OS map (1881) but not on later editions. Subsequent aerial photographs show it as univallate with a ditch visible to the S, no obvious entrances. Fieldwalking in 1979 produced lithics, some possibly Iron Age. Uncertain whether this is a hillfort.

Status

Citizen Science:  ✗

Reliability of Data:  Unconfirmed

Reliability of Interpretation:  Unconfirmed

Location

X:  -161071  Y:  6802727  (EPSG: 3857)

Longitude:  -1.4469209960645204  Latitude:  52.014383299782274  (EPSG:4326)

Country:  England

Current County or Unitary Authority:  Oxfordshire

Historic County:  Oxfordshire

Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland:  Hook Norton

Monument Condition

None

Condition:
Extant   ✗
Cropmark   ✓
Likely Destroyed   ✗

Land Use

Ploughed out, under arable

Current Use:
Woodland   ✗
Commercial Forestry Plantation   ✗
Parkland   ✗
Pasture (Grazing)   ✗
Arable   ✓
Scrub/Bracken   ✗
Bare Outcrop   ✗
Heather/Moorland   ✗
Heath   ✗
Built-up   ✗
Coastal Grassland   ✗
Other   ✗

Landscape

Hillfort Type

On hillslope facing N, details of morphology difficult to establish by aerial photograph only

Type:
Contour Fort   ✗
Partial Contour Fort   ✗
Promontory Fort   ✗
Hillslope Fort   ✓
Level Terrain Fort   ✗
Marsh Fort   ✗
Multiple Enclosure Fort   ✗

Topographic Position

Position:
Hilltop   ✗
Coastal Promontory   ✗
Inland Promontory   ✗
Valley Bottom   ✗
Knoll/Hillock/Outcrop   ✗
Ridge   ✗
Cliff/Plateau-edge/Scarp   ✗
Hillslope   ✓
Lowland   ✗
Spur   ✗

Dominant Topographic Feature:  On hillslope with views

Aspect:
North   ✓
Northeast   ✗
East   ✗
Southeast   ✗
South   ✗
Southwest   ✗
West   ✗
Northwest   ✗
Level   ✗

Altitude:  182.0m

Boundary

N/A


Dating Evidence

Unknown

Reliability:  D - None

Principal Activity:
Pre 1200BC   ✗
1200BC - 800BC   ✗
800BC - 400BC   ✗
400BC - AD50   ✗
AD50 - AD400   ✗
AD400 - AD 800   ✗
Post AD800   ✗
Unknown   ✓

Other Activity:
Pre Hillfort:   None
Post Hillfort:   None

Evidence:No related records

Investigation History

Shown on OS 1st edition in 1881, not on 2nd edition. In Plot 1705. Field walking in 1979 resulted in Neolithic. Bronze Age and late Iron Age flints (mentioned in HER).

Investigations:
1st Identified Written Reference (1705):   Plot
1st Identified Map Depiction (1881):   OS 1st edition
Other (1979):   Field walking

Interior Features

No evidence for interior features

Water Source

None

Source:
None   ✓
Spring   ✗
Stream   ✗
Pool   ✗
Flush   ✗
Well   ✗
Other   ✗

Surface

None

Interior Features (Surface):
No Known Features   ✓
Round Stone Structures   ✗
Rectangular Stone Structures   ✗
Curvilinear Platforms   ✗
Other Roundhouse Evidence   ✗
Pits   ✗
Quarry Hollows   ✗
Other   ✗

Excavation

None

Interior Features (Excavation):
No Known Excavation   ✓
Pits   ✗
Postholes   ✗
Roundhouses   ✗
Rectangular Structures   ✗
Roads/Tracks   ✗
Quarry Hollows   ✗
Other   ✗
Nothing Found   ✗

Geophysics

None

Interior Features (Geophysics):
No Known Geophysics   ✓
Pits   ✗
Roundhouses   ✗
Rectangular Structures   ✗
Roads/Tracks   ✗
Quarry Hollows   ✗
Other   ✗
Nothing Found   ✗

Finds

None

Interior (Finds):
No Known Finds   ✓
Pottery   ✗
Metal   ✗
Metalworking   ✗
Human Bones   ✗
Animal Bones   ✗
Lithics   ✗
Environmental   ✗
Other   ✗

Aerial

None

Interior Features (Aerial):
APs Not Checked   ✓
None   ✗
Roundhouses   ✗
Rectangular Structures   ✗
Pits   ✗
Postholes   ✗
Roads/Tracks   ✗
Other   ✗

Entrances

No evidence for entrances

Total Number of Breaks Through Ramparts:  
None:   Unknown

Number of Possible Original Entrances:  
2:   Unknown

Guard Chambers:  ✗

Chevaux de Frise:  ✗

Entrances:No related records

Enclosing Works

Beesley (1841) describes it as nearly levelled but with a low bank with dimensions of W 52yds, S 69yds, E 38yds and NW 63yds. Aerial photographs show it as univallate with a ditch visible to the S.

Enclosed Area:
Area 1:   0.3ha.
Total:   0.3ha.

Total Footprint Area:  Noneha.

Ramparts

None

Multi-period Enclosure System:
✗   None

Ramparts Form a Continuous Circuit:
✓   None

Number of Ramparts:  
NE Quadrant:   1
SE Quadrant:   1
SW Quadrant:   1
NW Quadrant:   1
Total:   1

Morphology

Current Morphology:
Partial Univallate   ✗
Univallate   ✓
Partial Bivallate   ✗
Bivallate   ✗
Partial Multivallate   ✗
Multivallate   ✗
Unknown   ✗

Detailed Morphology:
Partial Univallate   ✗
Univallate   ✗
Partial Bivallate   ✗
Bivallate   ✗
Partial Multivallate   ✗
Multivallate   ✗

Surface Evidence

None

Enclosing Works (Surface):
None   ✓
Earthen Bank   ✗
Stone Wall   ✗
Rubble   ✗
Wall-walk   ✗
Evidence of Timber   ✗
Vitrification   ✗
Other Burning   ✗
Palisade   ✗
Counter Scarp Bank   ✗
Berm   ✗
Unfinished   ✗
Other   ✗

Excavated Evidence

None

Enclosing Works (Excavation):
None   ✓
Earthen Bank   ✗
Stone Wall   ✗
Murus Duplex   ✗
Timber-framed   ✗
Timber-laced   ✗
Vitrification   ✗
Other Burning   ✗
Palisade   ✗
Counter Scarp Bank   ✗
Berm   ✗
Unfinished   ✗
No Known Excavation   ✗
Other   ✗

Other

Gang Working:
✗   None

Ditches:
✓   Single ditch visible at the S on aerial photograph.

Number of Ditches:  1

Annex:
✗   None

References

Beesley, A. 1841. The history of Banbury: including copious historical and antiquarian notices of the neighbourhood. London: Nichols and son.

Manning, P. and Leeds, E.T. 1921. An archaeological survey of Oxfordshire. London: Society of Antiquaries.

Page, W. (ed) 1907. The Victoria History of the County of Oxford, Vol II. London, 335.

Plot, R. 1705. The natural history of Oxfordshire.



Terms of Use

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