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>

<1> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments England, 1952, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume I (West), 56 (Monograph). SDO97.

‘(44) EARTHWORK on Lewesdon Hill (about 900 ft. above O.D.), about ¾ m. S. of the parish church, forms an enclosure rather over 2½ acres in internal area. This site consists of a comparatively narrow hill with a flat curved top some 330 yards long by an average width of about 45 yards. The S.W. and most of the E. scarp is precipitous; while that on the N. is less steep. At the S. end there is a natural ramped causeway and at the W. end there is a natural causeway connecting Lewesdon Hill with Burstock Down. At the W. end, crossing the causeway, are traces of a slight ditch some 14 ft. below the ground level of the summit, and having traces of an outer bank. In a similar position on the sloping causeway at the S. end is a slight flattening of the slope, or suggestion of a berm, which may represent a similar cross ditch, now filled up. At this level, also, are slight traces of a berm continuing along the S.W. scarp for a few yards. Along most of the N. scarp are intermittent traces of a berm about 20 ft. below the upper ground level, which may represent the site of a former ditch now filled up. It ceases abruptly at its E. end, where the scarp becomes sufficiently precipitous to have rendered a ditch unnecessary. A few yards E. of the W. entrance are what may be traces of an inner rampart to the main scarp; but, as there has been digging for and removal of gravel from the floor of the enclosure, it is not safe to attach much importance to this apparent rampart.
The whole area has been much damaged by the removal of gravel and timber and the obliterating effect of leaf-mould, as the entire defences are wooded. On the N. side is a trackway which would appear to be of later date. The sunken way running from this track up the hill-side to a point some 95 yards E. of the W. entrance is modern. There is an apparent berm near the base of the S.W. scarp.’

<2> Royal Air Force, 11-APR-1947, RAF/CPE/UK/1975 FP 1083-4 (Aerial Photograph). SDO14777.

<3> Royal Air Force, 11-APR-1947, RAF/CPE/UK/1974 FS 2407-8 (Aerial Photograph). SDO14852.

<4> Google Earth, 2006, Google Earth vertical photograph (Aerial Photograph). SDO14562.

<5> Devon Archaeological Society, 1967, News bulletin 20, July 1967 (Serial). SDO18737.

<6> Lock, G, and Ralston, I, 2017, Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland [ONLINE], EN3597 (Digital archive). SDO17130.

<7> Historic England, Historic England Archive, 881810 RCHME: Earthwork on Lewesdon Hill, Broadwindsor, Dorset (Index). SDO14738.

<8> National Record of the Historic Environment, 193092 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Nov 8 2022 3:32PM