Monument record MDO532 - Lewesdon Hill, Broadwindsor, Burstock

An earthwork encircling the narrow top of Lewesdon Hill, and interpreted as an Iron Age hillfort. Traces of a slight ditch outside the bank can be seen in those places where the slope of the hill is less steep; a ditch presumably not being thought necessary in the steeper parts. The hill is covered in woodland, and the interior of the enclosure is much disturbed by gravel quarrying.

(ST 437 012). An earthwork enclosure on Lewesdon Hill (see plan on Illust. card). The flat hilltop is defended on SW and E by a precipitous scarp; and along the N side, where the scarp is less steep, there are traces of a berm, possibly a filled-in ditch, some 20' below the upper ground level. A natural causeway approach to the W angle is defended by a slight ditch with traces of outer bank, and another natural approach to the S angle has suggestions of a similar feature. There is also apparently another berm at the base of the SW scarp. The trackway on the north side is probably a later feature, and the sunken way running up the hill from it is modern. The whole area has been much damaged by removal of gravel and timber, and the defences are wooded. <1> An earthwork encircling the narrow top of Lewesdon Hill, and interpreted as an Iron Age hillfort. Traces of a slight ditch outside the bank can be seen in those places where the slope of the hill is less steep; a ditch presumably not being thought necessary in the steeper parts. The hill is covered in woodland, and the interior of the enclosure is much disturbed by gravel quarrying. Banked and ditched earthworks are visible on the northwest edges of the hillfort, within Burstock CP, on aerial photographs taken in the 1940s <2> and <3>. These potentially represent part of the defensive outworks of the hillfort, which may have seen some later re-use as trackways. An east to west aligned linear banked and ditched feature (MDO39020) to west to the southeast of the earthworks is probably a historic field boundary. The remainder of the hillfort is under tree cover in aerial photographs taken in 1947 <2> and <3>. The western end of the hillfort is showing as under tree cover on the latest Google Earth imagery <4>. The site was digitally plotted during the Marshwood Vale NMP. The National Trust property of Lewesdon Hill (ST 437013) is crowned with a fine Iron Age fortress. The site being naturally strong, the defences are slight but well-designed. <5> A large univallate hillfort on the top of a narrow hill. The hillfort is defended on its south western and south eastern sides by a precipitous scarp. Along the northern side where the slope is less steep there are traces of an infilled ditch about 7 metres below the level of the interior which covers an area of about 1.2ha. At the western and southern end the hillfort is approached across narrow ridges which create natural causeways. At the western end, crossing the ridge, there is a slight ditch, 2.5 metres wide and 0.5 metres deep, with traces of an outer bank, 4 metres wide and up to 0.5 metres high. Inside the enclosure there are traces of a bank, up to 0.5 metres high, running along the edge of the scarp which may be the remains of an inner rampart. Similarly at the southern end the slope levels off suggesting an infilled ditch with a counterscarp bank which crosses the ridge. The line of the ditch continues as a ledge along the south western scarp for about 80 metres. There is a possible internal rampart cutting across the ridge 4 metres wide and up to 0.8 metres high at this end. The interior of the hillfort has been disturbed by gravel digging and timber removal. <8>

Record last edited

Nov 8 2022 3:32PM