LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade
Satellite Imagery
LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade
Satellite Imagery
Scroll left/right to view further images.
HER: Wiltshire and Swindon MWI1950 (None)
NMR: ST 86 SW 200 (None)
SM: None
NGR: ST82136113
X: 382162 Y: 161089 (OSGB36)
Formerly situated on a promontory overlooking the River Avon valley within the N outskirts of Bradford-on-Avon, now completely destroyed by housing development. Early excavations (1945) suggested remnants of surviving bank were two barrows and a 'henge-type' enclosure, but confirmed as an inland promontory fort by further excavations in 1969 (Wainwright 1970). A single rampart and two outer ditches with berms on the N and E cut off a promontory with steep natural slopes to the SE and SW, a level approach from the N, approximately 2.5ha enclosed, no obvious entrances. The rampart was a box structure with dry-stone front and rear faces, the two ditches were flat-bottomed and 1.5m deep. A sub-rectangular post-built building was excavated. Early Iron Age pottery and other material culture. Minimal amounts of Romano-British pottery and coins. Limited medieval 12th/15th century occupation.
Citizen Science: ✗
Reliability of Data: Confirmed
Reliability of Interpretation: Confirmed
X: -251308 Y: 6683180 (EPSG: 3857)
Longitude: -2.257538814713884 Latitude: 51.34854458786646 (EPSG:4326)
Country: England
Current County or Unitary Authority: Wiltshire
Historic County: Wiltshire
Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland: Bradford on Avon
Destroyed by housing development.
| Extant | ✗ |
| Cropmark | ✗ |
| Likely Destroyed | ✓ |
Destroyed and built-up.
| Woodland | ✗ |
| Commercial Forestry Plantation | ✗ |
| Parkland | ✗ |
| Pasture (Grazing) | ✗ |
| Arable | ✗ |
| Scrub/Bracken | ✗ |
| Bare Outcrop | ✗ |
| Heather/Moorland | ✗ |
| Heath | ✗ |
| Built-up | ✓ |
| Coastal Grassland | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
Former possible inland promontory overlooking the River Avon valley. Steep natural slopes to the SE and SW, level approach from the N.
| 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: Overlooking River Avon valley
| North | ✗ |
| Northeast | ✗ |
| East | ✗ |
| Southeast | ✗ |
| South | ✗ |
| Southwest | ✗ |
| West | ✗ |
| Northwest | ✗ |
| Level | ✓ |
Altitude: 91.0m
N/A
Iron Age material culture from excavations (Wainwright 1970), also finds of EIA pottery during house building. Minimal amounts of Romano-British pottery and coins.
Reliability: B - Medium
| Pre 1200BC | ✗ |
| 1200BC - 800BC | ✗ |
| 800BC - 400BC | ✓ |
| 400BC - AD50 | ✓ |
| AD50 - AD400 | ✗ |
| AD400 - AD 800 | ✗ |
| Post AD800 | ✗ |
| Unknown | ✗ |
| Pre Hillfort: | None |
| Post Hillfort: | None |
| Artefactual: | None |
Minor early excavations, main work is excavation in 1969 by Wainwright (1970).
| Excavation (1969): | G.J. Wainwright. |
Excavations by Wainwright (1970) revealed a sub-rectangular post-built structure with hearth, other postholes and pits. Finds include pottery, metalwork, antler, bone and stone artefacts.
None
| None | ✓ |
| Spring | ✗ |
| Stream | ✗ |
| Pool | ✗ |
| Flush | ✗ |
| Well | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
Site destroyed.
| No Known Features | ✓ |
| Round Stone Structures | ✗ |
| Rectangular Stone Structures | ✗ |
| Curvilinear Platforms | ✗ |
| Other Roundhouse Evidence | ✗ |
| Pits | ✗ |
| Quarry Hollows | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
Excavations by Wainwright (1970) revealed a sub-rectangular post-built structure with hearth, other postholes and pits.
| 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 | ✗ |
Finds include pottery, metalwork, antler, bone and stone artefacts. Two large rim sherds Iron Age pottery.
| 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 for entrances.
| 0: | None |
| 2: | None |
Guard Chambers: ✗
Chevaux de Frise: ✗
Single rampart with two outer ditches, berm between each. Rampart is 5m wide, box construction with dry-stone inner and outer faces, internal postholes. Inner berm 10.9m wide, inner ditch 5.7m wide, 1.5m deep with a flat base 1.6m wide. Outer berm is 9m wide, outer ditch is 5m wide, 1.5m deep with a flat base 1.5m wide.
| Area 1: | 2.5ha. |
| Total: | 2.5ha. |
Total Footprint Area: Noneha.
None
| ✗ | None |
| ✗ | Site destroyed. |
| NE Quadrant: | 0 |
| SE Quadrant: | 0 |
| 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 | ✗ |
Site destroyed.
| None | ✓ |
| Earthen Bank | ✗ |
| Stone Wall | ✗ |
| Rubble | ✗ |
| Wall-walk | ✗ |
| Evidence of Timber | ✗ |
| Vitrification | ✗ |
| Other Burning | ✗ |
| Palisade | ✗ |
| Counter Scarp Bank | ✗ |
| Berm | ✗ |
| Unfinished | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
Rampart of box construction with dry-stone inner and outer faces, internal postholes. Inner berm 10.9m wide, inner ditch 5.7m wide, 1.5m deep with a flat base 1.6m wide. Outer berm is 9m wide, outer ditch is 5m wide, 1.5m deep with a flat base 1.5m wide.
| 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 |
| ✓ | None |
Number of Ditches: 2
| ✗ | None |
Wainwright, G. 1970. An Iron Age promontory fort at Budbury, Bradford-on-Avon, Wiltshire., Wiltshire Archaeol Natur Hist Mag, 65, 108-66.
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