Monument record MDO907 - Chilcombe Hill, Chilcombe

An Iron Age hillfort on Chilcombe Hill consisting of a ditch with inner and outer ramparts enclosing an irregular pear-shaped area, with three entrances. The earthworks are quite slight, particularly along the south-eastern side.

The hillfort is "an irregular pear shaped enclosure surrounded by a ditch with inner and outer ramparts. Along the S.E. side the defence now consists of two scarps with a small ledge between them… The defences are..very slight..and there remains no trace of huts within the enclosure." Entrances: One on the E. side; one 70 yds SS.W of the N.W. angle, and a more doubtful one in the shape of a passage to the E. of the S. corner. <3> For the most part this hillfort is formed by a weak bank with an inner ditch, but the defences, while of a rudimentary nature, would seem to have originally been a system of two banks with a medial ditch, set at the edge of a small plateau. The defences have been considerably worn down, and only on the N & NE part of the enclosure is the inner bank surveyable, and here it averages 0.3m high and 4.0m wide. The medial ditch is from 0.5 to 2.0 m. deep, being best preserved on the W. side of the hillfort. The outer bank averages 0.5m. High. Part of this bank has been destroyed by quarrying on the N. side. On the S.E. the defences now consist of two scarps each approximately 1.5m. High, and separated by a narrow berm. This side has been defaced to some extent by rabbits and natural soil creep. There are four complete or partial breaks in the earthwork. That towards the S. extremity does not seem original, and two strip lynchets lead away from it in a S.W. direction. The original entrances are probably those on the E and the N. part of the W. side, as suggested in T2. The inturning shewn in the plan in T.2. is perhaps modern, for both entrances are in present use for agricultural purposes. A probable modern break exists at the N.W. angle, and here are vestiges of a continuation of bank and ditch beyond the alignment of the N. side. The photo-plan in T.2. shows small lengths of inner scarp to the inner 'bank' which are not shown on the OS. 1/2500. These sections are very vague and virtually unsurveyable. This hillfort is well depicted on AP St.J/AX/90. <4> An adequate water supply is adjacent to this hillfort, perambulation revealed no traces of internal occupation. <5> The hillfort interior has been ploughed, and dark patches with sherds and burnt flint are evidence for at least nine huts (SY530918). The sherds are coarse and probably early Iron Age. Iron Age sherds from a gas-board trench across the North end of the fort are in the Butler Collection. <6> Iron Age hillfort on Chilcombe Hill. Earthworks are visible on aerial photographs. <10-11>

Record last edited

May 3 2023 4:51PM