LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade
Satellite Imagery
LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade
Satellite Imagery
Scroll left/right to view further images.
HER: Dorset MDO666 (None)
NMR: ST 50 SE 17 (195860)
SM: None
NGR: ST594001
X: 359416 Y: 100101 (OSGB36)
Contour hillfort sited on summit end of gently domed spur, detached from main body by col, located in the upper reaches of River Frome valley. Steep valleys below to SE and S, less steep on W and NW. Irregular oval in shape of interior area 1.75ha. Defined by artificial scarping of the outline of the hill averaging 7m. wide and 3.5m. high. Also natural defence by steep slope of the hill on SE and S, lacking on N. and W. Ramped causewayed entrances on NE and NW, latter possibly slightly inturned. Possibly unfinished. Improved pasture, cultivated in past. Hedge line on W. On 1st Ed OS map (1888). Minimal investigations, undated.
Citizen Science: ✓
Reliability of Data: Confirmed
Reliability of Interpretation: Confirmed
X: -286900 Y: 6585812 (EPSG: 3857)
Longitude: -2.5772701137556258 Latitude: 50.79897662125411 (EPSG:4326)
Country: England
Current County or Unitary Authority: Dorset
Historic County: Dorset
Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland: Cattistock
Reduced by past cultivation.
| Extant | ✓ |
| Cropmark | ✗ |
| Likely Destroyed | ✗ |
Improved pasture, cultivated in past. Hedgeline on W.
| Woodland | ✗ |
| Commercial Forestry Plantation | ✗ |
| Parkland | ✗ |
| Pasture (Grazing) | ✓ |
| Arable | ✗ |
| Scrub/Bracken | ✓ |
| Bare Outcrop | ✗ |
| Heather/Moorland | ✗ |
| Heath | ✗ |
| Built-up | ✗ |
| Coastal Grassland | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
Contour hillfort sited on summit end of gently domed spur, detached from main body by col, located in the upper reaches of River Frome valley. Steep valleys below to SE and S, less steep on W and NW.
| 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: Spur
| North | ✗ |
| Northeast | ✗ |
| East | ✗ |
| Southeast | ✗ |
| South | ✗ |
| Southwest | ✗ |
| West | ✗ |
| Northwest | ✗ |
| Level | ✓ |
Altitude: 185.0m
N/A
None.
Reliability: D - None
| Pre 1200BC | ✗ |
| 1200BC - 800BC | ✗ |
| 800BC - 400BC | ✗ |
| 400BC - AD50 | ✗ |
| AD50 - AD400 | ✗ |
| AD400 - AD 800 | ✗ |
| Post AD800 | ✗ |
| Unknown | ✓ |
| Pre Hillfort: | Probable barrow on summit. |
| Post Hillfort: | Strip lynchets on site. Possible Saxon burgh as Old Warren (Atlas No. 3614) a few km to S. Probable medieval terracing on lower slopes to N of enclosure. |
On 1st Ed OS map (1888).
| 1st Identified Map Depiction (1888): | OS map. |
None.
Nearest water 600m to W.
| 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 | ✗ |
Ramped causewayed entrances, on NE and NW, latter possibly slightly inturned.
| 2: | None |
| 2: | None |
Guard Chambers: ✗
Chevaux de Frise: ✗
| 1. Simple Gap (North east): | Causewayed. |
| 2. In-turned (North west): | Causewayed, but possibly slightly inturned. |
Defined by artificial scarping of the outline of the hill averaging 7m. wide and 3.5m. high. Also natural defence by steep slope of the hill on SE and S, lacking on N. and W.
| Area 1: | 1.75ha. |
| Total: | 1.75ha. |
Total Footprint Area: Noneha.
None
| ✗ | None |
| ✓ | None |
| 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 | ✗ |
Possibly unfinished.
| 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 |
| ✗ | No ditch defined. |
Number of Ditches: None
| ✗ | None |
Gale, J. 2003. Prehistoric Dorset, Stroud: Tempus Publishing.
RCHME 1952. An inventory of the historical monuments in Dorset, Vol 1, West Dorset, 73, London: RCHM.
Hutchins, Rev. J. 1868. The history and antiquities of the County of Dorset, 4, 3rd Edn, Westminster.
Warne, C. 1872. Ancient Dorset. The Celtic, Roman, Saxon and Danish Antiquities of the County, Bournemouth: For the author, 147-48.
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