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British Camp

Herefordshire, England · Atlas EN0005

British Camp is a contour fort in Colwall, Herefordshire, England.

Other names on the record: Herefordshire Beacon.

It is recorded as extant, with a bivallate rampart form, surface evidence of earthen bank and counterscarp bank, and an enclosed area of 14.7 hectares.

Banks or ramparts are the remains most likely to be visible.

The topographic record places it on a hilltop and a ridge and at 338 m.

The aspect is recorded as level.

Recorded land use includes pasture, scrub or bracken, and heather moorland.

Dating evidence is recorded for 800–400 BC, 400 BC–AD 50, AD 50–400, and after AD 800 (Morphology/Earthwork/Typology). Reliability is recorded as C - Low.

A scheduled monument number is recorded (1001792).

Location

Atlas number
EN0005 (5)
Country
England
Current county or unitary authority
Herefordshire
Historic county
Herefordshire
Parish, community, or townland
Colwall
Also recorded in
Worcestershire
National Grid reference
SO 760400
Latitude
52.05782
Longitude
-2.35147
Altitude
338 m

Form and condition

Type
contour fort
Condition
Extant
Morphology
bivallate
Complete rampart circuit
Yes
Number of ramparts
2
Number of ditches
3
Possible original entrances
6
Breaks through the ramparts
6
Enclosed area
14.7 ha
Enclosure areas
3 ha, 14.7 ha
Enclosing works, as visible
earthen bank and counterscarp bank
Enclosing works, excavated
earthen bank and counterscarp bank
Also recorded
multi-period enclosure system and ditches
Entrance forms
Out-turned (North east); Out-turned (South west); Over-lapping (South); Over-lapping (West); Over-lapping (North)

Landscape

Topographic position
hilltop and ridge
Aspect
level
Land use
pasture, scrub or bracken, and heather moorland
Water source
spring

Dating

Dating
800–400 BC, 400 BC–AD 50, AD 50–400, and after AD 800
Dating evidence
Morphology/Earthwork/Typology
Dating reliability
C - Low

Interior and investigation

Interior surface
curvilinear platforms and quarry hollows
Investigations
Excavation (1879); Other (1879); 1st Identified Map Depiction (1886); Other (1999); Other (2008); Other (2012); 1st Identified Written Reference (1665-1693); Earthwork Survey (1999-2005)

Identifiers

Scheduled monument number
1001792
HER
Herefordshire MHE435 (second identifier 932)
National record
record SO 74 SE 3; monument 113786
Wikidata
Q31114060

Sources

References

  1. Bowden, M. 2000. British Camp or Herefordshire Beacon, Archaeol Investig Rep AI/4/2000, Swindon: English Heritage.
  2. Bowden, M. 2005. The Malvern Hills, an ancient landscape, 19-22, plan, London: English Heritage.
  3. Dorling, P. and Wigley, A. 2012. Assessment of the archaeological and conservation status of major later prehistoric enclosures in Herefordshire and Shropshire, EH PNUM, Version 3.2, Hereford and Shrewsbury: Herefordshire Council/Shropshire Council.
  4. Hilton Price, F.G. 1887. Camps on the Malvern Hills, Trans Woolhope Natur Fld Club, 9, (1877-80), 217-28.