LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade
Satellite Imagery
LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade
Satellite Imagery
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HER: Isle of Wight MIW373 (None)
NMR: SZ 48 SE 16 (460277)
SM: 1010012
NGR: SZ 4799 8389
X: 447997 Y: 83890 (OSGB36)
Inland promontory fort located on long steep-sided NE aligned, chalk capped with gravel, spur on Chillerton Down. Steep surrounding slopes, less along ridge to SW. Best known of the few Isle of Wight enclosures, and possibly the only true hillfort. At the SW end of the ridge, and cutting off the site from higher ground, narrow neck cut off by rampart and ditch, possibly cutting of c. 5.5ha. Rampart, c. 84 long, 3m high and c. 21m wide, unusually takes form of five mounds in line, material thrown up from ditch on SW side, hence the old name of 'Five Barrows' for the site. As result has been suggested that site unfinished. Ditch now mostly infilled and only visible as slight hollow, but possibly deep and V-shaped. Air photographs show ploughed-out banks of trackway from rampart along ridge towards chalk-pit on Chillerton Down. Entrance at NW end of rampart and possibly trackway contemporary with fort. Ramparts encroached by ploughing, particularly S end. Site now grass covered with fence and hedge bank. On 1st Ed. OS map (1862-3). Few investigations. Undated.
Citizen Science: ✗
Reliability of Data: Confirmed
Reliability of Interpretation: Confirmed
X: -147212 Y: 6560080 (EPSG: 3857)
Longitude: -1.3224288716284445 Latitude: 50.652652113131424 (EPSG:4326)
Country: England
Current County or Unitary Authority: Isle of Wight
Historic County: Hampshire and Isle of Wight
Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland: Gatcombe
Ramparts encroached by ploughing, particularly S end.
| Extant | ✓ |
| Cropmark | ✗ |
| Likely Destroyed | ✗ |
Site now grass covered with fence and hedge bank.
| Woodland | ✗ |
| Commercial Forestry Plantation | ✗ |
| Parkland | ✗ |
| Pasture (Grazing) | ✓ |
| Arable | ✗ |
| Scrub/Bracken | ✓ |
| Bare Outcrop | ✗ |
| Heather/Moorland | ✗ |
| Heath | ✗ |
| Built-up | ✗ |
| Coastal Grassland | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
Inland promontory fort located on long steep-sided NE-SW aligned, chalk capped with gravel, spur on Chillerton Down. Steep surrounding slopes, less along ridge to SW.
| 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: 152.0m
N/A
None.
Reliability: D - None
| Pre 1200BC | ✗ |
| 1200BC - 800BC | ✗ |
| 800BC - 400BC | ✗ |
| 400BC - AD50 | ✗ |
| AD50 - AD400 | ✗ |
| AD400 - AD 800 | ✗ |
| Post AD800 | ✗ |
| Unknown | ✓ |
| Pre Hillfort: | None |
| Post Hillfort: | None |
On 1st Ed. OS map (1862-3). Ordnance Survey investigation 1955, 1967.
| 1st Identified Map Depiction (None): | OS map. |
| Other (None): | OS investigation. |
None.
None
| 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 | ✗ |
Air photographs show ploughed-out banks of trackway from rampart along ridge towards chalk-pit on Chillerton Down. Entrance at NW end of rampart and possibly trackway contemporary with fort.
| 1: | None |
| 2: | None |
Guard Chambers: ✗
Chevaux de Frise: ✗
| 1. Simple Gap (South west): | At NW end of rampart. |
At the SW end of the ridge, and cutting off the site from higher ground, narrow neck cut off by rampart and ditch. Rampart, c. 84 long, 3m high and c. 21m wide, unusually takes form of five mounds in line, material thrown up from ditch on SW side, hence the old name of 'Five Barrows' for the site. Ditch now mostly infilled and only visible as slight hollow, but possibly deep and V-shaped.
| Area 1: | 5.5ha. |
| Total: | 5.5ha. |
Total Footprint Area: Noneha.
None
| ✗ | None |
| ✗ | None |
| NE Quadrant: | 0 |
| SE Quadrant: | 0 |
| SW Quadrant: | 1 |
| NW Quadrant: | 0 |
| Total: | 1 |
| Partial Univallate | ✓ |
| Univallate | ✗ |
| Partial Bivallate | ✗ |
| Bivallate | ✗ |
| Partial Multivallate | ✗ |
| Multivallate | ✗ |
| Unknown | ✗ |
| Partial Univallate | ✗ |
| Univallate | ✗ |
| Partial Bivallate | ✗ |
| Bivallate | ✗ |
| Partial Multivallate | ✗ |
| Multivallate | ✗ |
Five mounds in line, material thrown up from ditch on SW side, hence the old name of 'Five Barrows' for the site. As result has been suggested that site 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 |
| ✓ | Ditch now mostly infilled and only visible as slight hollow, but possibly deep and V-shaped. |
Number of Ditches: 1
| ✗ | None |
Dunning, G.C. 1947. Chillerton Down Camp, Gatcombe, Isle of Wight, (2), Proc Isle of Wight Natur Hist Archaeol Soc, 51-6.
Wrench, C.L. 2012. Evidence of hillforts on the Isle of Wight, Unpublished paper, University of 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