Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland

EN3155 Foxhill, Warwickshire

LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade

LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade

Satellite Imagery

Satellite Imagery

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HER:  Warwickshire 3846 (None)

NMR:  SP 24 NW 19 (332962)

SM:  None

NGR:  SP 21376 49809

X:  421376  Y:  249809  (OSGB36)

Summary

Lying on Foxhill, approximately 830m from to the SE of Preston on Stour, a hillfort recorded as a cropmark on aerial photographs. It is described as a large curvilinear ditch, approximately 133m by 119m enclosing 1.4ha. It is well-defined in the W and SE, but destroyed by post-medieval or modern quarrying in the S. A break in the W is probably an entrance. No internal features have been recorded. A small rectangular enclosure approximately 16m by 19m has been recorded to the E and a ring ditch and rectangular features, one of which is double-ditched, to the N. Fieldwalking in 1985 and 1986 (Hingley, 1987), across the enclosure, which is now under arable, produced probable Early Iron Age pottery and burnt stone. Romano-British pottery was recovered from across the cropmarked area in the N. The site is not recorded on OS mapping and no further investigation has taken place.

Status

Citizen Science:  ✗

Reliability of Data:  Confirmed

Reliability of Interpretation:  Confirmed

Location

X:  -188023  Y:  6826590  (EPSG: 3857)

Longitude:  -1.6890394598477823  Latitude:  52.14612308488043  (EPSG:4326)

Country:  England; None

Current County or Unitary Authority:  Warwickshire

Historic County:  Warwickshire

Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland:  Alderminster; Preston on Stour

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

The cropmark of a level terrain fort hillfort lying at approximately 57m OD. Beyond this, a slight downhill slope lies to the N and steep downhill slopes leading to a brook in the S

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:  Level hilltop

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

Altitude:  57.0m

Boundary

Boundary between Alderminster and Preston on Stour to the S

Boundary Type:  Parish/Townland


Dating Evidence

Early Iron Age pottery from fieldwalking

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

Fieldwalking in 1985/6. Mapped as part of the South East Warwickshire and Cotswold Hills HLS NMP Target Areas project.

Investigations:
Other (1985):   Fieldwalking
Other (None):   NMP transcription

Interior Features

No internal features are recorded. Pottery and burnt stone from fieldwalking

Water Source

Brook lies to the S

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

A break in the W is probably an entrance

Total Number of Breaks Through Ramparts:  
1:   None

Number of Possible Original Entrances:  
2:   None

Guard Chambers:  ✗

Chevaux de Frise:  ✗

Entrances:
1. Simple Gap (West):   None

Enclosing Works

Cropmark of a large curvilinear ditch, approximately 133m by 119m enclosing 1.4ha. Well-defined in the W and SE, destroyed by post-medieval or modern quarrying in the S.

Enclosed Area:
Area 1:   1.4ha.
Total:   1.4ha.

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:
✓   None

Number of Ditches:  1

Annex:
✗   None

References

Hingley, R, 1987. Alderminster, Iron Age hillfort and Roman site on Foxhill, West Mids Archaeol 29 (1986), 48.

Hingley, R. 1996. Prehistoric Warwickshire: a review of the evidence. Trans Birm Warwicks Archaeol Soc, 100, 1-24.



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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