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Castle Ditch, Eddisbury

Cheshire West and Chester, England · Atlas EN3187

Castle Ditch, Eddisbury is a contour fort in Delamere, Cheshire West and Chester, England.

Other names on the record: Eddisbury Hillfort.

It is recorded as extant, with a bivallate rampart form, surface evidence of earthen bank, and an enclosed area of 3.5 hectares.

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

The topographic record places it on a hilltop and at 152 m.

The aspect is recorded as level.

Recorded land use includes pasture, arable, and scrub or bracken.

Dating evidence is recorded for 400 BC–AD 50 and AD 50–400 (Artefactual and C14). Reliability is recorded as B - Medium.

A scheduled monument number is recorded (1013295).

Location

Atlas number
EN3187 (3187)
Country
England
Current county or unitary authority
Cheshire West and Chester
Historic county
Cheshire
Parish, community, or townland
Delamere
National Grid reference
SJ55326935
Latitude
53.21938
Longitude
-2.67061
Altitude
152 m

Form and condition

Type
contour fort
Condition
Extant
Morphology
bivallate
Complete rampart circuit
Yes
Number of ramparts
2
Number of ditches
1
Possible original entrances
2
Breaks through the ramparts
2
Enclosed area
3.5 ha
Footprint
7.6 ha
Enclosing works, as visible
earthen bank
Enclosing works, excavated
earthen bank, stone wall, and timber-laced wall
Also recorded
guard chambers, multi-period enclosure system, and ditches
Entrance forms
In-turned (North west); Simple Gap (South east)

Landscape

Topographic position
hilltop
Aspect
level
Land use
pasture, arable, and scrub or bracken

Dating

Dating
400 BC–AD 50 and AD 50–400
Dating evidence
Artefactual and C14
Dating reliability
B - Medium

Interior and investigation

Interior excavation
quarry hollows
Finds
pottery, lithics, and environmental material
Investigations
1st Identified Map Depiction (1875); 1st Identified Written Reference (1882); Earthwork Survey (1987); Geophysical Survey (2004); Other (2006); LiDAR Survey (2009); Excavation (1935-1938); Other (2007-2011); Excavation (2012)

Identifiers

Scheduled monument number
1013295
HER
Cheshire MCH8266 (second identifier 866/1/3)
National record
record SJ 56 NE 2
Wikidata
Q31053157

Sources

References

  1. Cocroft, W.D, Everson, P., Jecock, M. and Wilson-North, W.R. 1989. Castle Ditch Hillfort, Eddisbury, Cheshire reconsidered,: the excavations of 1935-38 in the light of recent field survey, in eds M. Bowden, D. Mackay and P. Topping, From Cornwall to Caithness, some aspects of British field archaeology. Papers presented to Norman V. Quinell, BAR Brit Ser, 209, Oxford, 129-35.
  2. Forde-Johnston, J. 1962. The Iron Age hill-forts of Lancashire and Cheshire, Trans Lancashire Cheshire Antiq Soc, 72, 9-46.
  3. Garner, D. 2012. Hillforts of the Cheshire Sandstone Ridge, Monograph, Habitats and Hillforts Landscape Partnership Scheme, Chester: Cheshire West and Chester Council.
  4. Garner, D. 2014. A tour of Eddisbury and its environs, In ed. Saunders, T., Hillforts in the North West and Beyond, Archaeological North West: New Series, 3 (2014), Council for British Archaeology North West, 73-85.
  5. Garner, D. 2014. Helsby Hill to Maiden Castle: Prehistoric forts of the Cheshire Ridge, In ed. Saunders, T., Hillforts in the North West and Beyond, Archaeological North West: New Series, 3 (2014), Council for British Archaeology North West, 28-41.
  6. Garner, D. 2016. Hillforts of the Cheshire Ridge. Investigations undertaken by the Habitats and Hillforts Landscape Partnership Scheme 2009-2012. Oxford: Archaeopress.
  7. Longley, D.M. 1987. Prehistory, In eds B.E. Harris and A.T. Thacker, The Victoria History of the County of Chester, Vol 1, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  8. Ormerod, G. 1882. The History of Cheshire, 2nd Ed.
  9. Varley, W.J. 1950. Excavations of the Castle Ditch, Eddisbury, 1935-38, Trans Hist Soc Lancashire Cheshire, 102, 1-68.
  10. Webster, T. 2006. Archaeological Recording at Eddisbury Hillfort, Delamere, Cheshire, Report Gifford and Partners, Chester: Gifford and Partners.