Summary
Iron Age Hilltop camp of 8 hectares with a single bank and ditch. Excavation by Cunliffe 1989 dated the inital hillfort construction to c550 BC. Later a Romano-British farmstead occupied the interior of the fort. Only part of rampart and ditch NT owned.
Identification Images (0)
Monument Types
- HILLFORT (Iron Age - 800 BC to 42 AD)
- FARMSTEAD (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
Description
Woolbury a strong hilltop camp of 8 hectares with a single bank and ditch. The National Trust owns the W ditch of the Hillfort, the boundary fence running along the top of the bank.. A causeway across the ditch and a breach in the bank on the W side appears to be an original entrance.
The levelled defensive ditch on the E side was excavated in 19989 (Cunliffe 1989 p5) and finds here dated the initial Hillfort construction to the early Iron Age c550 BC. Later a Romano- British farmstead was found to have occupied the fort interior.
Visited 24/10/91. The defences on the W side are well preserved, particularly on the NW side where the ditch is %m deep from the top of the interior bank and 14m wide from the E edge of the counterscarp bank to the W edge of the inner bank. The outer counterscarp bank is traceable for several metres N of 120033 and after a gap of c.10m the bank can be traced for 100m on the SW side of the fort. At its highest the bank is 6m wide and 0.5m high. The ditch becomes shallower to the SE of 120033. The causeway is c.4m wide.
The W defences are in fair condition although the interior of the hillfort, outside National Trust ownership, has been heavily ploughed. The N end of the National Trust ditch and banks is covered in mature mixed woodland and several trees have fallen in resent storms tearing up stratified deposits in their root bowls. To the SE of 120033 the ditch is covered in dense scrub but further SE, to the NW and SE of the causeway the ditch has been cleared of scrub in the last two years. Numerous rabbit scrapes and burrows are visible. Archaeological Comments - Site:120035*0 Purchase of the rest of the hillfort is desirable and is being considered by the region.
References
- SNA60463 - Bibliographic reference: Morris Marples. 1981. White Horses and Hill Figures.
- SNA60464 - Photograph - black and white: Scilla Templeton. Jan 1969. Woolbury Down flint horse.
- SNA66192 - Report: Martin Papworth. Feb 1992. The National Trust Archaeological Survey, Stockbridge, Hampshire. [Mapped feature: #172655 Iron Age Hilltop camp of 8 hectares with a single bank and ditch. Excavation by Cunliffe 1989 dated the inital hillfort construction to c550 BC. Later a Romano-British farmstead occupied the interior of the fort. Only part of rampart and ditch NT owned., ]
- SNA67107 - Notes: David E Johnston. 2001?. The Woolbury Horse and Cross.
- SNA69613 - Report: Cornwall County Council. 2009. The Aggregate Landscape of Hampshire: Results of NMP Mapping.
- SZL2019 - Serial: Barry Cunliffe. 1989. The Danebury Environs Project. 1 Woolbury:survey and excavation 1989, Interim Report. 1.
Other Statuses and References
- Common Land
- Site of Special Scientific Interest (Biological)
Associated Events
- ENA8636 - Archaeological Intervention, Excavations at Woolbury hillfort, Stockbridge Down
- ENA10579 - Heritage Assessment, The Aggregate Landscape of Hampshire: Results of NMP Mapping
Associated Finds
None Recorded
Related Records
None Recorded