LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade
Satellite Imagery
LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade
Satellite Imagery
Scroll left/right to view further images.
HER: South Gloucestershire 1487 (None)
NMR: ST 68 NE 2 (201445)
SM: 1010803
NGR: ST650887
X: 365021 Y: 188754 (OSGB36)
Slight, univallate, partial contour hillfort located on ridge top with commanding views NW to Forest of Dean, Severn Valley and as far as Malvern Hills and Cotswolds. Severely damaged and much reduced by ploughing. Steep surrounding slopes NE-NW, moderate to strong elsewhere. A38 Bristol-Gloucester road crosses site NE-SW, which now improved pasture, where it is crossed by ancient track Abbey Lane just SE of Thornbury. Oval shape, NW part of rampart runs along top of ridge, SE downslope, with internal area c. 2ha. Defined by single rampart with possible ditch, with additional bank branching off from main circuit at SE and curving N towards the road, possible vestige of annexe, but unclear. Main bank survives in places to 1.7m high and 5m wide, but probably wider in past. Possible entrance site at gap at S end of site. Probable Iron Age site with Roman reoccupation, with surface finds of pottery, roof tiles, glass beads, steelyard weights and brooches, and two coins of late first century date from nearby water pipe trench. Site on OS surveyors map (1812) and OS One Inch map (1830) as a complete enclosure, bisected by main A38 (and Abbey Lane in 1830, though now shown to W of hillfort on all other maps). Not on 1st Ed. OS 1:2500 map (1881) or 2nd Ed (1903).
Citizen Science: ✓
Reliability of Data: Confirmed
Reliability of Interpretation: Confirmed
X: -279012 Y: 6727492 (EPSG: 3857)
Longitude: -2.5064039002670313 Latitude: 51.59649053500331 (EPSG:4326)
Country: England
Current County or Unitary Authority: South Gloucestershire
Historic County: Gloucestershire
Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland: Thornbury
Severely damaged and much reduced by ploughing. A38 Bristol-Gloucester road crosses site NE-SW, where it is crossed by ancient track Abbey Lane just SE of Thornbury.
| Extant | ✓ |
| Cropmark | ✗ |
| Likely Destroyed | ✓ |
Improved pasture. Main road.
| Woodland | ✗ |
| Commercial Forestry Plantation | ✗ |
| Parkland | ✗ |
| Pasture (Grazing) | ✓ |
| Arable | ✗ |
| Scrub/Bracken | ✗ |
| Bare Outcrop | ✗ |
| Heather/Moorland | ✗ |
| Heath | ✗ |
| Built-up | ✗ |
| Coastal Grassland | ✗ |
| Other | ✓ |
Slight, univallate, partial contour hillfort located on ridge top with commanding views NW to Forest of Dean, Severn Valley and as far as Malvern Hills and Cotswolds. Steep surrounding slopes NE-NW, moderate to strong 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: Ridge top
| North | ✗ |
| Northeast | ✗ |
| East | ✗ |
| Southeast | ✗ |
| South | ✗ |
| Southwest | ✗ |
| West | ✗ |
| Northwest | ✓ |
| Level | ✗ |
Altitude: 100.0m
N/A
Probably Iron Age site, but only Mesolithic flints and Roman finds. Later Roman reoccupation suggested, with surface finds of pottery, roof tiles, glass beads, steelyard weights and brooches, and two coins of late first century date from nearby water pipe trench.
Reliability: D - None
| Pre 1200BC | ✗ |
| 1200BC - 800BC | ✗ |
| 800BC - 400BC | ✗ |
| 400BC - AD50 | ✗ |
| AD50 - AD400 | ✗ |
| AD400 - AD 800 | ✗ |
| Post AD800 | ✗ |
| Unknown | ✓ |
| Pre Hillfort: | Mesolithic flints found. |
| Post Hillfort: | Later Roman reoccupation suggested by finds, including roof tiles. |
| Artefactual: | Mostly Roman finds. |
On Ordnance Surveyors Drawings Chipping Sodbury 1816. (1812) and OS One Inch map (1830) as a complete enclosure, bisected by main A38 (and Abbey Lane in 1830, though now shown to W of hillfort on all other maps). Not on 1st Ed. OS 1:2500 map (1881) or 2nd Ed (1903). Field investigation 1962 - no details. Watching Brief for water pipe trench T.W.J. Solley 1982. Aerial photograph interpretation Severn Vale National Mapping Project English Heritage 2013-16. LiDar survey - Environment Agency 2006?.
| 1st Identified Map Depiction (1812): | OS surveyors map. |
| Other (1830): | OS One inch map. |
| Other (1962): | Field investigation - no details. |
| Other (1982): | Watching Brief for water pipe trench T.W.J. Solley. |
| LiDAR Survey (None): | Environment Agency. |
| Other (None): | Aerial photograph interpretation Severn Vale National Mapping Project English Heritage. |
Slight hollow area in E of interior could possibly indicate settlement activity. Surface finds of pottery, roof tiles, glass beads, steelyard weights and brooches, and two coins of late first century date from nearby water pipe trench.
None
| None | ✓ |
| Spring | ✗ |
| Stream | ✗ |
| Pool | ✗ |
| Flush | ✗ |
| Well | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
Slight hollow area in E of interior could possibly indicate settlement activity.
| 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 | ✗ |
Surface finds of pottery, roof tiles, glass beads, steelyard weights and brooches, and two coins of late first century date from nearby water pipe trench.
| 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 | ✗ |
Possible entrance site at gap at S end of site.
| 1: | None |
| 2: | None |
Guard Chambers: ✗
Chevaux de Frise: ✗
| 1. Simple Gap (South): | Possible. |
Defined by single rampart with possible ditch, with additional bank branching off from main circuit at SE and curving N towards the road, possible vestige of annexe, but unclear.
| Area 1: | 2.0ha. |
| Total: | 2.0ha. |
Total Footprint Area: Noneha.
None
| ✗ | None |
| ✓ | Hardly visible in places. |
| 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 | ✗ |
None
| 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 |
| ✓ | Possible ditch. |
Number of Ditches: 1
| ✓ | The single rampart has an additional bank branching off from main circuit at SE; possible vestige of annexe, but unclear. |
Solley, T. W. J. 1983. Earthworks at Abbey (Alveston) and Elberton (Aust), Trans Bristol and Gloucs Arch Soc, 101, 174-180.
Witts, G.B. 1883. Archaeological handbook of the County of Gloucester, Cheltenham: G. Norman, 1.
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