Monument record MDO4766 - Rawlsbury Camp, Stoke Wake

The earthwork remains of an Iron Age hillfort also called Rawlesbury Rings or Rawles-Bury Rings. The camp is situated on the western end of a ridge with precipitous slopes to its south and an out-turned entrance to the east. Its defences comprise two banks, each with a ditch but separated by a berm. The ramparts appear to represent two constructional phases, the inner one probably being an addition to an original univallate fort. The camp has been much disturbed by trackways. Finds from the site have included Iron Age pottery, Roman coins and pottery.

Rawles-Bury or Rawlsbury Rings is an Iron Age 'Durotrigian' camp situated on the south west extremity of Bulbarrow. The earthwork covering about 7-8 acres is oviform and is partially protected by double ramparts. There is an entrance on the east side. Roman coins and pottery have been found there and in the arable fields nearby. <2-3> A very strong hillfort, surmounting the western end of a ridge with precipitous slopes to its south and with an out-turned entrance to the east. North of the parish boundary the earthwork has been mutilated, mainly by trackways. From its strength and complicated entrance the hillfort seems likely to be later rather than earlier Iron Age. See 1:2500 Re-survey. <4> ST 768058. Rawlsbury Camp, an Iron Age bivallate hillfort, is prominently sited at 780ft. Above Ordnance datum, on a spur extending W. from the S.W-N.E. alignment of the Chalk escarpment. The S. half of the camp lies in Hilton parish. The ground falls steeply away on the N. and S.E. and less steeply on the W., to the E, it rises along a narrow neck towards the summit of Bulbarrow Hill. The defences enclose a pear-shaped area of 4 acres with an entrance at the narrow E. end. The defences comprise two banks, each with a ditch, adjoining on the W. and S.E. but separated by a berm 40ft to 70ft across on the N. and S. The inner rampart stands up to 5ft. Above the interior and up to 19 ft. above the ditch bottom. The ditch varies in depth from a mere shelf on the S.E. to 8 ft. on the N., and in width from 15ft to 30ft. Traces of a counterscarp bank are visible on the S. and on either side of the entrance. The outer rampart is more variable and along the N. side it has been damaged by tracks and by the present road; on the inside it rises up to 4ft. Above the berm and on the outside its height varies between 14ft. On the N.W. and 22ft. On the S.E. The outer ditch has been partly destroyed on the N., and on the S.E. it is no more than a narrow sloping shelf, but where best preserved it is 25ft. Across and 4ft. Deep. The ramparts appear to represent two constructional phases, the inner rampart probably being an addition to an original univallate fort. The elaborate entrance, consists of a gap through the inner rampart, flanked by the out-turned ends of the bank which, on the S, turns and crosses the line of the outer bank. The entrance is protected by a barbican or outwork formed by the outer rampart, but the precise form is difficult to determine because of disturbance. Within the camp, the S. half contains slight depressions, probably the remains of occupation. Sherds found in trenches dug during army manoeuvres in 1951, in the rearward slope of the inner rampart, include wares that are possibly Iron Age or later <5.1>. Cross-dykes E. of the fort may well be related to it (ST 70 NE 21, 24, 25, 26) See plan. <5> ST 767 058. Rawlsbury. Listed in gazetteer as a multivallate hillfort covering 1.6 hectares. <7>

Record last edited

Oct 13 2022 11:13AM