Monument record MDO2432 - Shipton Hill, Shipton Gorge

An enclosure formed by enhancement of the natural lie of the land. A very slight rampart and ditch enclose an area of about ¾ of an acre. Possibly an unfinished hillfort. Excavation of the site has uncovered Iron Age material including pottery and a hoard of slingstones.

Vast long barrow, standing on an eminence & at a distance looks like a large boat, or hull of a ship, turned keel upwards, it is 749 ft long, 16ft broad, at the top & 147 ft high in a slant line. <1>

"The areas [of the earthwork] is intersected by a fence, on the W side of which there is a slight elevation, perhaps a barrow, yet not clearly defined. On the E side are the remains of a small quadrangular earthwork, with its banks slightly raised, but its antiquity seems doubtful". At the base of the hill on its N.E are many irregular disturbances of the soil, apparently the site of a British village. <2>

Long Barrow:- Apparently only a defended hill. <4>

An enclosure has been formed on Shipton Hill by scarping the N. and S. sides of the hill, while the ends of the hill form natural ramped causeways leading up to the summit. At the base of the hill on both N. and S. sides is a ditch with outer rampart, which in places has been destroyed. Both, ditch and rampart stop short of the ends of the hill. Between the base of the mound and the rampart on the S.E side is a berm, which appears natural. The pathways leading up the slope on the N. and S. are probably modern. On the summit near the middle is a transverse hedge bank which appears to have been formed along the E. scarp of a ditch to an earlier bank. Near the middle of the enclosure is a mound 28ft in diameter and 14ins high. On the N. side of the earthwork is a series of rough terraces, probably natural, though their surfaces in one or two places show signs of disturbance. Warne mentions the disturbed nature of the NE part of the field N.E of this camp and suggests the possibility of a Celtic village. The disturbance is still visible but indeterminate. <5>

From Shipton Hill: Two sherds, an abraded rock (?quern), and a rock home. From near the hill (S.E) a grinding stone, a celt and a sherd. Acc No. 1954.29. Presented by Mr W Butcher, Higher Sturthill, Shipton Gorge. <6>

The top of the hill is permanent pasture, but I have found fragments of pottery in mole scrapes etc. and fragments of quern like stones, one fragment being of a sort of volcanic stone. The stones have one completely flat and seemingly ground face in each case. At the S. edge of the top near the modern fence is a small pit, dug during the recent war. Fragments of pottery have been obtained from this; some have been identified as IA and one piece as possibly L.B.A. The pottery was identified at the Dorset Co. Museum. <7>

A: SY50749212 B: SY50789211
Shipton Hill is an elongated, flat-topped and grass covered knoll, 80 ft high, with steep sides. It is difficult to decide whether the sides have been scarped or not. Perhaps some scarping took place at the bottom of the hill, where a ditch and outer bank have been thrown up on the N. and S. sides. The bank which is mutilated throughout, does not continue round the ends of the hill. On the S. side, the bank has cut through by a modern track, to the E. of this the bank averages 10.0m wide and is from 0.3 to 0.5m high, with an inner ditch 5.0m wide and 0.5m deep. To the W. of the track the bank is strong, from 10.0m to 16.0m wide and from 1.0m to 2.5m high. The inner ditch is again 5.0m wide and 0.5m deep. On the N. side of the hill the mutilated bank is as shown on the OS 1/2500. Generally it is 1.3m high and 10.0m wide. Only at the W. end can the ditch be determined for 15.0m, where it is 4.0m wide and 0.5m deep. Elsewhere a modern boundary bank has been constructed along the probable line of the ditch, and appears to have destroyed any original work. Across the top of the hill a modern fence follows a small ditch and low bank which also seem to be comparatively modern.
A: The small mound referred to in T.I is 10.0m in diameter and 0.2m high, with no surrounding ditch. The mound, a possible barrow, is surmounted by an OS Triangulation Station.
B: There is a surface diggingf 5.0m across and 0.4m deep. Several very small sherds were found at the pit during investigation; there were not classifiable but were of a hard grey and broken ware.
Shipton Hill is a rather enigmatic site. It is clear that the flat top had IA occupation, and this may have extended into earlier and later times. The situation is exposed but defensive. The form of defence, if intended for such, is unusual; a ditch and outer bank is generally of a poor defensive nature, and set at the foot of the hill and only on the N. and S. sides it seems of little strategic value. The earthwork is not a hillfort in the accepted sense, but an unusual form of defended hill. <8>

There is an adjacent water supply to this feature, but only fragmentary traces - in a way of finds - of internal occupation. The lack of defences at either extreme, query the defensive role of this also, for such defences could quite easily have been constructed, and it is at the E & W points that defences would have been most essential, for here the ascent is easier being naturally ramped. The possibility exists that the earthwork as a whole is unfinished and was perhaps deemed unnceessary in view of the large IA hillfort at Chilcombe Hill. <9>

Excavation revealed IA 'A' & 'B' pottery sherds (finger tip decoration), a small food bowl (IA 'A'), hammer stones, flint flakes and scrapers, spindle whorls (pottery) slingstone board of approx. 1000 pebbles, fragments of corn querns, a bronze sword or spear tip, and a Kimmeridge shale ring. The finds are at Higher Sturthill, Shipton Gorge, Bridport. <11>

<1> 1768, Gentleman's Magazine (Serial). SDO19686.

<2> Warne, C, 1872, Ancient Dorset (2nd Edition), 96-7 (Monograph). SWX1971.

<3> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Map 6in, 1930 (Map). SWX1540.

[Centred at SY 50729213] Earthwork [OE]

<4> Crawford, O G S, Annotated record map 6 inch (Map). SWX7265.

<5> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments England, 1952, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume I (West), 223 (Monograph). SDO97.

‘(11) EARTHWORK on Shipton Hill (565 ft. above O.D.), ¾ m. N.E. of the church, forms an enclosure of about ¾ acre. The hill-top has been artificially steepened on the N. and S. sides and the two ends form natural ramped causeways leading up to the summit. At the base of the hill on both the N. and S. sides is a ditch with outer rampart of no great strength, and at the present time, for part of their length, both have almost disappeared. Both the ditch and rampart stop short on the E. and W. ends of the hill.
Between the base of the mound and the outer ditch at the eastern half of the S. side is a berm, but it seems probable that it is merely a natural outcrop of rock. The two pathways leading up the slope on the N. and S. are probably modern. On the top of the enclosure near the middle is a cross hedge-bank which appears to have been formed along the eastern scarp of a ditch to an earlier bank, traces of which can be seen immediately E. of the existing hedge-bank. Near the middle of the enclosure is a circular mound, of about 28 ft. in diameter and 14 in. high.
Beyond the rampart on the N. side, and to a much lesser degree on the S. also, are a series of rough terraces. They would seem to be a natural formation though their surfaces in one or two places show signs of disturbance. Warne mentions the disturbed nature of the N.E. part of this field immediately to the N.E. of this camp and suggests the possibility of its being a Celtic village. This disturbance is still visible but is quite indeterminate.’

<6> Dorset County Museum, Dorset County Museum Accessions Book (Unpublished document). SWX1315.

<7> Quinnell, N V, Various, Field Investigators Comments NVQ, F1 NVQ 10-MAR-55 (Unpublished document). SDO11903.

<7.1> Butcher, Mr W, Oral: Mr W Butcher, Higher Sturthill, Shipton Gorge (Verbal communication). SDO19083.

<8> Quinnell, N V, Various, Field Investigators Comments NVQ, F2 NVQ 06-MAY-55 (Unpublished document). SDO11903.

<9> Quinnell, N V, Various, Field Investigators Comments NVQ, F3 FDC 10-MAY-55 (Unpublished document). SDO11903.

<10> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1956, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1955, 135-136 (Serial). SDO55.

<11> Butcher, W, 1957, Annotated Record Map Corr. 6, 25.11.57 (Map). SWX1368.

<12> Lock, G, and Ralston, I, 2017, Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland [ONLINE], EN3606 (Digital archive). SDO17130.

<13> Royal Commission on Historic Monuments, Externally held archive: RCH01/088 RCHME Inventory: Dorset I (West) and Revision (Unpublished document). SDO17367.

<14> Historic England, Historic England Archive, AO55/128/7 (Index). SDO14738.

DEFENDED HILL OF AN UNUSUAL NATURE - THERE WAS IA OCCUPATION ON THE FLAT TOP. VIEW FROM NORTH-EAST

<15> Historic England, Historic England Archive, OS55/F128/7 (Index). SDO14738.

SHIPTON HILL FROM EAST, SHIPTON GORGE,DORSET

<16> Historic England, Historic England Archive, OS55/F73/1 (Index). SDO14738.

ISOLATED HILL WITH EARTHWORK AT SHIPTON GORGE - PLAN

<17> National Record of the Historic Environment, 451331 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

May 3 2023 4:17PM