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Hengistbury Head

Dorset, England · Atlas EN3594

Hengistbury Head is a promontory fort in Hengistbury, Dorset, England.

It is recorded as extant, with a partial bivallate rampart form, surface evidence of earthen bank, and an enclosed area of 80 hectares.

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

The topographic record places it on a coastal promontory and at 10 m.

The aspect is recorded as level.

Recorded land use includes scrub or bracken and coastal grassland.

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

A scheduled monument number is recorded (1002367).

Location

Atlas number
EN3594 (3594)
Country
England
Current county or unitary authority
Dorset
Historic county
Dorset
Parish, community, or townland
Hengistbury
National Grid reference
SZ172907
Latitude
50.71637
Longitude
-1.75686
Altitude
10 m

Form and condition

Type
promontory fort
Condition
Extant
Morphology
partial bivallate
Complete rampart circuit
No
Number of ramparts
2
Ramparts by quadrant
NE 0, SE 0, SW 2, NW 2
Number of ditches
2
Possible original entrances
1
Breaks through the ramparts
3
Enclosed area
80 ha
Enclosing works, as visible
earthen bank
Enclosing works, excavated
earthen bank and palisade
Also recorded
multi-period enclosure system and ditches
Entrance forms
Simple Gap (West)

Landscape

Topographic position
coastal promontory
Aspect
level
Land use
scrub or bracken and coastal grassland

Dating

Dating
800–400 BC, 400 BC–AD 50, and AD 50–400
Dating evidence
Artefactual
Dating reliability
B - Medium

Interior and investigation

Interior excavation
pits, postholes, rectangular structures, and roads or tracks
Finds
pottery, metal, metalworking, human bones, animal bones, lithics, and environmental material
Investigations
1st Identified Map Depiction (1893); Excavation (1911-1912); Excavation (1970-1984)

Identifiers

Scheduled monument number
1002367
HER
Dorset MDO8633
National record
record SZ 19 SE 84; monument 458767
Wikidata
Q31115888

Sources

References

  1. Brown, I. 2009. Beacons in the landscape. The hillforts of England and Wales, Oxford: Wingather Press/Oxbow Books.
  2. Bushe-Fox , J.P 1915. Excavations at Hengistbury Head, Hampshire in 1911-12, Rept Res Comm Soc Antiq London, No.1 (1913) - no.3, 20-30.
  3. Collis, J (ed). 1975. Defended Sites of the Late La Tene in Central and Western Europe, BAR Supplementary Series 2, 213-5.
  4. Cunliffe, B. 1978. Hengistbury Head. London: Elek.
  5. Cunliffe, B. 1987. Hengistbury Head, Dorset, Vol I: The prehistoric and Roman settlement, 3500 BC-AD 50, Oxford University Committee for Archaeology Monograph 13, Oxford: Oxford University Committee for Archaeology.
  6. Darvill, T., Stamper, P. and Timby, J. 2002. England an archaeological guide, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 393.
  7. Gale, J. 2003. Prehistoric Dorset, Stroud: Tempus Publishing.