Banbury Hill

Iron Age hillfort in Dorset, England

50°54′23″N 2°18′01″W / 50.90639°N 2.30028°W / 50.90639; -2.30028OS grid referenceST 790 119TypeHillfortArea1.2 hectares (3.0 acres)HistoryPeriodsIron Age

Scheduled monument

Designated14 July 1933Reference no.1018873

Banbury Hillfort, or Banbury Hill Camp, is an Iron Age hillfort, about 1.25 miles (2.0 km) south of Sturminster Newton and 1 mile (1.6 km) north-west of the village of Okeford Fitzpaine in Dorset, England.

It is a Scheduled Ancient Monument.^[1]

Description

The fort is on a low hill: a single bank encloses a roughly circular area of about 1.2 hectares (3.0 acres). The site has been affected in the past by ploughing. Where best preserved, the rampart is 15 metres (49 ft) wide and 0.5 metres (1.6 ft) above the interior, with an external ditch, visible in places, of width 8 metres (26 ft) and depth 1.5 metres (4.9 ft).^[1]^[2]

There is an original entrance on the west side, protected by an external bank 15 metres (49 ft) wide and 1 metre (3.3 ft) high, with traces of an external ditch. This bank, branching out from the north west part of the rampart, runs south-west and then curves towards the fort, so that there is a passage into the fort from the south, at one point down to about 2 metres (6.6 ft) wide.^[1]^[2]

There are no traces of remains in the interior.^[2]

The rampart (ascertained as a result of excavation in 1986 of a trench for a water pipe) has been found to be of local limestone, with some fragments of flint and chert.^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Historic England. "Hillfort on Banbury Hill (1018873)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
^ ^a ^b ^c Historic England. "Banbury Hillfort (202265)". Research records (formerly PastScape). Retrieved 2 October 2019.