Monument record MDO4360 - Weatherby Castle, Milborne St Andrew

An Iron Age hillfort on the southern end of a spur, and formed by taking advantage of the lie of the land, with steep slopes on three sides. The earthworks enclose an area of about 5½ acres and consist of two banks and ditches. In 1970 the inner rampart was described as standing 3 feet above the interior and 23 feet above the surrounding ditch, around 40 feet across. The outer rampart was described as 5 feet high on the inside and up to 32 feet high on the outside, and much reduced by ploughing on the inside. An entrance on the western side of the enclosure appears to be original, though mutilated by later use, while a gap in the rampart to the north is thought to be relatively modern.

OS 1:2500 Revised. <1>

Weatherby Castle (name confirmed) is generally as described by RCHM <3>, and in a good state of preservation.

Resurveyed at 1:2500 on M.S.D. utilising the RCHM plan. <4>

As <3>. A low bank, 2.5 metres wide and 0.4 metres high, runs around the inside of the hillfort, adjacent to the rampart. The date of this feature is unknown, and it may be a plantation enclosure. There is also a brick-built obelisk within the enclosure, with a stone inscribed 'EMP 1761', which probably refers to the then owner, Edmund Morton Pleydell. (This obelisk is listed and excluded from the scheduling). <5>

The site is clearly visible as earthworks on lidar imagery (15), it was digitally recorded during the Dorset Upper Cerne and Piddle AIM Project.

<1> Quinnell, N V, Various, Field Investigators Comments NVQ, F1 NVQ 16-NOV-54 (Unpublished document). SDO11903.

<2> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Map 6in, 1968 (Map). SWX1540.

(SY 807963) Weatherby Castle (NAT) Camp (NR)

<3> Royal Commission on Historic Monuments, 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume III (Central) Part 2, 179-181 (Monograph). SDO136.

‘(17) WEATHERBY CASTLE (807963), ¾ m. S. of the village, is an Iron Age contour hill-fort occupying the S. and higher end of a Chalk spur, rising to 334 ft. above O.D., from which the ground falls steadily away to the W., S. and E. (Plate 182). The multiple defences, possibly of two phases, enclose an irregular area of 17½ acres and comprise two roughly concentric enclosures with an intervening space from 50 ft. to 90 ft. in width. The inner enclosure covers 5½ acres and is defined by a rampart standing up to 3 ft. above the interior and 23 ft. above the surrounding ditch. The ditch averages 40 ft. across and beyond it is a low, spread and discontinuous counterscarp bank. The outer enclosure is defined by a rampart 5 ft. high on the inside and up to 32 ft. high on the outside, though for much of its length it is a little more than an outward-facing scarp, having been reduced on the inside by cultivation. The external ditch and counterscarp bank were seen by Hutchins (I, 142) but they are now little more than a shelf. The original entrance, facing W., has been much mutilated by ploughing. A steep scarp, formerly a bank, 400 ft. long with approach ramps at either end, covers the broad gap in the outer rampart; the N. approach ramp is original, but that to the S. appears to be merely the consequence of ploughing. Entry through the inner defences is by means of a curving ramp flanked on either side by the out-turned ends of the inner bank; a broad gap 200 ft. to the N. is certainly not original. There are no traces of occupation within the domed interior, but the summit is covered by a dense fir plantation and the remainder is masked by thick scrub, as also are the inner and much of the outer defences. Warne states that he collected fragments of Roman ware from the site (Ancient Dorset (1872), 159-61).’

<4> Barton, J G, Various, Field Investigators Comments JGB, F2 JGB 29-MAY-81 (Unpublished document). SDO11900.

<5> English Heritage, Scheduled Monument Notification, 06-OCT-2000 (Scheduling record). SDO17381.

<6> Lock, G, and Ralston, I, 2017, Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland [ONLINE], EN3609 (Digital archive). SDO17130.

<7> Royal Commission on Historic Monuments, Externally held archive: RCH01/096 RCHME Inventory: Dorset III (Central) (Unpublished document). SDO17384.

<8> Historic England, Historic England Archive, 662009 (Index). SDO14738.

Weatherby Castle/survey. Salisbury office archive.

<9> Historic England, Historic England Archive, 881878 (Index). SDO14738.

RCHME: Weatherby Castle, Dorset. Also includes profile. The parish is called Milborne Stileham on the survey, but is known as Milbirne St Andrew.Bibliographic References : 1) pt 2, Monument (18)

<10> Historic England, Historic England Archive, 881899 (Index). SDO14738.

RCHME: Weatherby Castle, Dorset. Tracing from the parent, discoloured.Bibliographic References : 1) Pt 2, Monument (18)

<11> Historic England, Historic England Archive, 881943 (Index). SDO14738.

RCHME: Weatherby Castle, Dorset. Section A-BBibliographic References : 1) Pt 2, Monument (18) Weatherby Castle profile

<12> Historic England, Historic England Archive, BB76/07712 (Index). SDO14738.

PLAN OF IA HILLFORT - POSSIBLY OF TWO PHASES

<13> Historic England, Historic England Archive, DD74/00005 (Index). SDO14738.

PLAN OF IA HILLFORT

<14> National Record of the Historic Environment, 455849 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

<15> Environment Agency, 15-DEC-2023, LIDAR Environment Agency DTM (Aerial Photograph). SDO20691.

Record last edited

Sep 12 2024 2:24PM