LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade
Satellite Imagery
LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade
Satellite Imagery
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HER: Dorset MDO3244 (None)
NMR: SY 68 NE 7 (451864)
SM: 1015775
NGR: SY66938848
X: 366867 Y: 88470 (OSGB36)
Commanding, multi-phase and complex contour hillfort sited on chalk knoll of the South Dorset Downs. Moderate to strong slopes to stream on S, mostly moderate elsewhere. In outstanding condition. Although not characterised by steep surrounding slopes, as many of the large Wessex and Marches hillforts are, much use made of using natural knoll to form commanding presence in the surrounding countryside. Defined by three massive ramparts on S quadrants and two on N, each with substantial counterscarps, with fine and complex gates on E and W sides, enclosing 18.5ha. The steep glacis ramparts reach in excess of 15m high. Site overlies Neolithic causewayed enclosure, with possible long barrow, on E plateau, with Neolithic bank barrow post-dating this enclosure in interior. Excavated by W.R.J.C. Barnes 1871, Edward Cunnington (1884), Sir Mortimer Wheeler (1934-1937) and N. Sharples (1985-1986), with geophysical and other measured surveys. Hillfort environs also subject of excavation and study. C14 dates by Sharples found initial phase of causewayed enclosure to be 3800 BC with occupation continuing to Romano-British period when prominent late Romano-Celtic temple of cella within walled precinct, with statue later reinterpreted as of Dioysus-Bacchus, found in Wheeler excavations who also excavated 'war cemetery' at E end of site, providing most of the 50 human burials found on the hillfort and suggested as result of the Roman taking of principal Durotrigan hillforts in the incursion W and similar to that found at Spettisbury Rings (Atlas No 3607). Three overall, and four more detailed, phases of Iron Age construction. Early Iron Age fort, of c. 7.4ha, defined by single chalk bank and outer ditch, with intervening berm, and E and W entrances guarded by timber gates, enclosing E summit of hill. During second half of third century BC extensions to W to more than double size of fort. In mid second century BC ramparts rebuilt and added and inner rampart heightened. These outstanding entrances increasingly more complex as ramparts added and gateways redesigned. Interior densely occupied and excavation revealed traces of circular and rectangular huts evident from post holes, trenches and floor remains with roads, gullies, many stone-lined storage pits and ovens. In later Iron Age occupation became restricted to E half of fort and ramparts less important, though inner bank and ditch refurbished at least once. Settlement and industrial activity extended into the area in front of E gate. Finds have included groups of sling stones, pottery, brooches, beads, loom weights, spindle whorls, querns and weaving combs. Occupation declined after the Conquest, but the temple was built c. 4th century AD. In post-Roman period the site was used to graze flock and series of dew ponds constructed. Site well-preserved under managed pasture and in state guardianship. On 1st Ed. OS map (1888).
Citizen Science: ✗
Reliability of Data: Confirmed
Reliability of Interpretation: Confirmed
X: -275014 Y: 6567494 (EPSG: 3857)
Longitude: -2.470496074319233 Latitude: 50.69485996612534 (EPSG:4326)
Country: England; None
Current County or Unitary Authority: Dorset
Historic County: Dorset
Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland: Winterborne St Martin; Winterborne Monkton
English Heritage site in outstanding condition.
| Extant | ✓ |
| Cropmark | ✗ |
| Likely Destroyed | ✗ |
Managed pasture. SSSI.
| Woodland | ✗ |
| Commercial Forestry Plantation | ✗ |
| Parkland | ✗ |
| Pasture (Grazing) | ✓ |
| Arable | ✗ |
| Scrub/Bracken | ✗ |
| Bare Outcrop | ✗ |
| Heather/Moorland | ✗ |
| Heath | ✗ |
| Built-up | ✗ |
| Coastal Grassland | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
Commanding, multi-phase and complex contour hillfort sited on chalk knoll of the South Dorset Downs. Moderate to strong slopes to stream on S, mostly moderate elsewhere.
| 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: Chalk knoll
| North | ✗ |
| Northeast | ✗ |
| East | ✗ |
| Southeast | ✗ |
| South | ✗ |
| Southwest | ✗ |
| West | ✗ |
| Northwest | ✗ |
| Level | ✓ |
Altitude: 132.0m
Boundary Type: Parish/Townland
Many dateable finds and 15 C14 dates from 1984-85 excavations.
Reliability: A - High
| Pre 1200BC | ✗ |
| 1200BC - 800BC | ✗ |
| 800BC - 400BC | ✓ |
| 400BC - AD50 | ✓ |
| AD50 - AD400 | ✓ |
| AD400 - AD 800 | ✗ |
| Post AD800 | ✗ |
| Unknown | ✗ |
| Pre Hillfort: | None |
| Post Hillfort: | None |
| Artefactual: | Many dateable finds. |
| C14: | 15 C14 dates. |
In Aubrey's Monumenta Britannica (1665-1693). On 1st Ed. OS map (1888). Diggings by unknown people 1865. Excavated by W.R.J.C. Barnes 1871, Edward Cunnington (1884), Sir Mortimer Wheeler (1934-1937) and N Sharples (1985-1986). RCHME level 3 analytical earthwork survey 1984-85, ref. no. 832712. Geophysical survey Ancient Monuments Laboratory 1885. Measured survey RCHME 1994. RCHME level 1 survey 1997. Bank barrow excavated by R.J.C. Atkinson 1951. Visited by Hillfort Study Group 1966, 2016.
| Other (1865): | Diggings by unknown people. |
| Excavation (1871): | W.R.J.C. Barnes. |
| Excavation (1884): | E. Cunnington. |
| 1st Identified Map Depiction (1888): | OS map. |
| Excavation (1951): | R.J.C. Atkinson. |
| Other (1966): | Visit by the Hillfort Study Group |
| Geophysical Survey (1985): | Ancient Monuments Laboratory. |
| Earthwork Survey (1994): | Measured survey RCHME. |
| Earthwork Survey (1997): | RCHME level 1 survey. |
| Other (2016): | Visit by the Hillfort Study Group |
| 1st Identified Written Reference (None): | Aubrey's Monumenta Britannica. |
| Excavation (None): | Sir Mortimer Wheeler. |
| Earthwork Survey (None): | RCHME level 3 analytical earthwork survey. |
| Excavation (None): | N. Shaples. |
Hillfort intensively occupied with change over time. Excavation revealed traces of circular and rectangular huts evident from post holes, trenches and floor remains with roads, gullies, many stone-lined storage pits and ovens. Numerous stone-lined pits. Romano-British temple of c. 4 century AD. Numerous finds include groups of sling stones, Iron Age pottery, brooches, beads, loom weights, querns and coins. Around 50 human burials identified, many within 'war cemetery' at E end of site, with evidence of violent end at hands of Romans.
Dew ponds to collect water constructed in post-Roman period.
| None | ✗ |
| Spring | ✗ |
| Stream | ✗ |
| Pool | ✗ |
| Flush | ✗ |
| Well | ✗ |
| Other | ✓ |
Some visible evidence of occupation. Romano-British temple evident on site.
| No Known Features | ✗ |
| Round Stone Structures | ✗ |
| Rectangular Stone Structures | ✗ |
| Curvilinear Platforms | ✓ |
| Other Roundhouse Evidence | ✗ |
| Pits | ✗ |
| Quarry Hollows | ✗ |
| Other | ✓ |
Hillfort intensively occupied. Excavation revealed traces of circular and rectangular huts evident from postholes, trenches and floor remains with roads, gullies, many stone-lined storage pits and ovens. Numerous stone-lined pits. Romano-British temple of c. 4 century AD.
| 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 groups of sling stones, Iron Age pottery, brooches, beads, loom weights, querns and coins. Around 50 human burials identified, many within 'war cemetery' at E end of site.
| 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 | ✗ |
Complex entrances on E and W sides, both with outworks and complex routes through ramparts, E with single access, W with double access.
| 2: | None |
| 2: | None |
Guard Chambers: ✗
Chevaux de Frise: ✗
| 1. Outworks (East): | Very complex. |
| 1. Over-lapping (East): | Complex routes through ramparts. |
| 2. Outworks (West): | Very complex. |
| 2. Over-lapping (West): | Complex routes through ramparts. |
Defined by three massive chalk ramparts on S quadrants and two on N, each with substantial counterscarps. Substantial intervening berms.
| Area 1: | 7.5ha. |
| Area 2: | 18.5ha. |
| Total: | 18.5ha. |
Total Footprint Area: Noneha.
None
| ✓ | Four phases of construction: Phase I: univallate covering 7.5ha. Phases II-IV: initially univallate but later multivallate covering 18.5ha. |
| ✓ | None |
| NE Quadrant: | 2 |
| SE Quadrant: | 3 |
| SW Quadrant: | 3 |
| NW Quadrant: | 2 |
| Total: | 3 |
| Partial Univallate | ✗ |
| Univallate | ✗ |
| Partial Bivallate | ✓ |
| Bivallate | ✗ |
| Partial Multivallate | ✓ |
| Multivallate | ✗ |
| Unknown | ✗ |
| Partial Univallate | ✗ |
| Univallate | ✓ |
| Partial Bivallate | ✗ |
| Bivallate | ✗ |
| Partial Multivallate | ✗ |
| Multivallate | ✗ |
High, chalk, glacis ramparts. Substantial berms and counterscarps around circuit.
| None | ✗ |
| Earthen Bank | ✓ |
| Stone Wall | ✗ |
| Rubble | ✗ |
| Wall-walk | ✗ |
| Evidence of Timber | ✗ |
| Vitrification | ✗ |
| Other Burning | ✗ |
| Palisade | ✗ |
| Counter Scarp Bank | ✓ |
| Berm | ✓ |
| Unfinished | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
Massive ramparts of chalk glacis construction.
| 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 |
| ✓ | Up to three ditches. |
Number of Ditches: 3
| ✗ | None |
Brown, I. 2009. Beacons in the landscape. The hillforts of England a d Wales, Oxford: Windgather Press/Oxbow Books.
Gale, J. 2003. Prehistoric Dorset, Stroud: Tempus Publishing.
RCHME 1970. An inventory of historical monuments in the County of Dorset, Vol 2, pt 3: south-east, 493-501,London: RCHME.
Sharples, N.M. 1991. Maiden Castle. Excavations and filed survey 1985-6. London: English Heritage.
Sharples, N.M. 1991. Maiden Castle, Batsford/English Heritage.
Wheeler, R.E.M. 1943. Maiden Castle, Dorset, Soc Antiq Res Rept 12, Oxford
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