Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland

EN0877 Arberry Hill, Northamptonshire (Arbury Hill; Thenford Hill Camp)

LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade

LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade

Satellite Imagery

Satellite Imagery

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HER:  Northamptonshire 299/0/1 (MNN18329)

NMR:  SP 5 4 SW 6 (339424)

SM:  None

NGR:  SP 521 440

X:  452160  Y:  244050  (OSGB36)

Summary

To the SW of Thorpe Mandeville on the upper slopes of a prominent hill facing S, mentioned in Beesley (1841), on 1st Ed OS map (1885-1900). Now much destroyed by agriculture and small-scale quarrying at the N. An almost circular univallate enclosure of 1.7ha, the bank is best preserved in NW and NE where it is 20m wide and 2.5m high. No evidence for a ditch.Surface finds of Iron Age sherds, also Neolithic and Bronze Age flints and Romano-British pottery. A Bronze Age hoard from the area may be from this site. Minimal investigations.

Status

Citizen Science:  ✓

Reliability of Data:  Confirmed

Reliability of Interpretation:  Unconfirmed

Location

X:  -138044  Y:  6816833  (EPSG: 3857)

Longitude:  -1.2400718447082586  Latitude:  52.092306369052636  (EPSG:4326)

Country:  England

Current County or Unitary Authority:  Northamptonshire

Historic County:  Northamptonshire

Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland:  Thenford

Monument Condition

None

Condition:
Extant   ✓
Cropmark   ✗
Likely Destroyed   ✓

Land Use

None

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

Hillslope fort on S facing slope of a prominent hill

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 a prominent hill

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

Altitude:  183.0m

Boundary

N/A


Dating Evidence

Surface finds of Iron Age sherds, also Neolithic and Bronze Age flints and Romano-British pottery. A Bronze Age hoard from the area may be from this site.

Reliability:  C - Low

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:
Artefactual:   None

Investigation History

Mentioned in Beesley (1841), on 1st Ed OS map (1885-1900), RCHME plan 1982.

Investigations:
1st Identified Written Reference (1841):   None
Earthwork Survey (1982):   None
1st Identified Map Depiction (None):   None

Interior Features

Pottery as surface finds, no other evidence.

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

NO APPARENT FEATURES

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:   None

Number of Possible Original Entrances:  
2:   None

Guard Chambers:  ✗

Chevaux de Frise:  ✗

Entrances:No related records

Enclosing Works

Almost circular, univallate, bank much destroyed but best preserved in NW and NE where it is 20m wide and 2.5m high. No evidence for a ditch.

Enclosed Area:
Area 1:   1.7ha.
Total:   1.7ha.

Total Footprint Area:  Noneha.

Ramparts

None

Multi-period Enclosure System:
✗   None

Ramparts Form a Continuous Circuit:
✗   None

Number of Ramparts:  
NE Quadrant:   None
SE Quadrant:   None
SW Quadrant:   None
NW Quadrant:   None
Total:   None

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:
✗   None

Number of Ditches:  None

Annex:
✗   None

References

Beesley, A. 1841. A history of Banbury, 31.

RCHME, 1982. An inventory of the Historical Monuments in the County of Northampton, Vol IV, 143-4.



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


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