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Hambledon Hill

Dorset, England · Atlas EN3399

Hambledon Hill is a contour fort in Child Okeford, Dorset, England.

It is recorded as extant, with a bivallate rampart form, surface evidence of earthen bank and counterscarp bank, and an enclosed area of 12.5 hectares.

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

The topographic record places it on a spur and at 190 m.

The aspect is recorded as level.

Recorded land use includes pasture.

Dating evidence is recorded for 800–400 BC, 400 BC–AD 50, and AD 50–400 (Artefactual and Morphology/Earthwork/Typology). Reliability is recorded as B - Medium.

A scheduled monument number is recorded (1002677).

Location

Atlas number
EN3399 (3399)
Country
England
Current county or unitary authority
Dorset
Historic county
Dorset
Parish, community, or townland
Child Okeford
National Grid reference
ST84511270
Latitude
50.91364
Longitude
-2.22179
Altitude
190 m

Form and condition

Type
contour fort
Condition
Extant
Morphology
bivallate
Complete rampart circuit
Yes
Number of ramparts
2
Number of ditches
2
Possible original entrances
3
Breaks through the ramparts
3
Enclosed area
12.5 ha
Footprint
28 ha
Enclosing works, as visible
earthen bank and counterscarp bank
Also recorded
multi-period enclosure system and ditches
Entrance forms
Simple Gap (North); In-turned (South west); Hornwork (South west); In-turned (South east); Outworks (South east)

Landscape

Topographic position
spur
Aspect
level
Land use
pasture
Water source
pool

Dating

Dating
800–400 BC, 400 BC–AD 50, and AD 50–400
Dating evidence
Artefactual and Morphology/Earthwork/Typology
Dating reliability
B - Medium

Interior and investigation

Interior surface
curvilinear platforms and quarry hollows
Finds
pottery and metal
Investigations
1st Identified Map Depiction (1887); Excavation (1894); Other (1966); Other (2016); 1st Identified Written Reference (1665-1693); Earthwork Survey (1959-1996); Excavation (1974-1986)

Identifiers

Scheduled monument number
1002677
HER
Dorset MDO3713
National record
record ST 81 SW 10; monument 206234
Wikidata
Q5644220

Sources

References

  1. Anderson, M. 2015. Nature's fortress, National Trust Magazine, Summer 2015, 62-5.
  2. Brown, I. 2009. Beacons in the landscape. The hillforts of England and Wales, Oxford: Windgather Press/Oxbow Books.
  3. Cunnington, E. 1895. Hambledon Hill, Dorset, Proc Dorset Nat Hist Antiq Fld Clb, 16, 156-57.
  4. Farrar, R.A.H. 1959. Archaeological Fieldwork in Dorset in 1951, Proc Dorset Natur Hist Archaeol Soc, 81, 108.
  5. Gale, J. 2003. Prehistoric Dorset, Stroud: Tempus Publishing.
  6. Mercer, R. and Healy, F. 2008. Hambledon Hill, Dorset, England: excavation and survey of a Neolithic monument complex and its surrounding landscape. Swindon: English Heritage.
  7. Oswald, A. 1997. A new survey of Hambledon Hill. RCHME.
  8. Oswald, A., Dyer, C. and Barber, M. 2001. The creation of monuments. Neolithic causewayed enclosures in the British Isles, London: English Heritage.
  9. RCHME 1970. An inventory of historical monuments in the County of Dorset, Vol 3, Central Dorset, London: RCHME.