Monument record MDO5994 - Badbury Rings, Shapwick

An Iron Age hill-fort situated on a prominent domed knoll commanding wide views in all directions. Multiple ramparts and V-shaped ditches enclose a roughly oval area of around 17 acres. In 1975 the inner rampart was described as 60 to 80 feet wide and rising to 10 feet above the interior and up to 25 feet above the bottom of the adjacent ditch, 40 feet wide. The outer rampart was described as rising up to 18 feet above the inner ditch and 15 to 22 feet above the outer ditch, which is 40 feet wide and up to 6 feet deep. The hillfort has a simple entrance on the east and a rather more elaborate one on the western side, protected by an additional bank between the two ramparts. This entrance was later simplified by being cut through, possibly in the Roman period. The site was digitally plotted from lidar imagery during the Dorset Middle Stour AI&M Project.

BADBURY RINGS a multivallate Iron Age hill-fort, is sited prominently on a chalk knoll rising to 327 ft. above O.D.; it commands wide views in all directions. Together with the adjacent settlement (ST 90 SE 37) it has been identified with Vindocladia of the Antonine Itinerary, and also with Mons Badonicus of Gildas. Its later history includes occupation by an army under Ethelwold, C. 899, and by the 'Clubmen' in 1645.

The site has not been excavated, but the earthworks indicate at least two phases of construction. The first phase appears to comprise the two inner ramparts and ditches, enclosing an oval of 17 acres. The inner rampart, 60 ft. to 80 ft. wide, rises 10ft. Above the interior and up to 25 ft. above the bottom of the adjacent ditch, which is 40 ft. wide. Immediately outside is a second rampart, standing up to 18 ft. above the inner ditch and from 15 ft. to 22 ft. above the outer ditch; the latter is 40 ft. wide and up to 6 ft. deep. Both ditches have markedly V-shaped profiles. The phase-1 enclosure had two entrances: on the E. is a straight gap through the ramparts, the ends of which are slightly inturned; on the W., an inturned entrance through the inner rampart and ditch is protected by a narrow, roughly rectangular barbican formed by the outer rampart, with an entrance at the S.W. corner. Near the centre of the W. side of the barbican, a later gap, perhaps Roman, is cut through the outer rampart and ditch.

In phase 2 the outer rampart and ditch were formed; they lie between 50 ft. and 100 ft. outside the inner defences and are considerably smaller. The rampart is 5 ft. high from the interior and up to 14 ft. high above the outer ditch; the ditch, where it survives, is up to 25 ft. wide and generally flat-bottomed. There are four gaps through the phase-2 defences. Those on the E. and S.W. are almost certainly original and are integrated with the entrances through the inner defences. That on the W. is a continuation of the (?) Roman gap in the barbican. That on the S. is relatively modern.

The interior of the hill-fort is domed and largely covered with trees and scrub. A prominent fir copse, Badbury Clump, within a low embanked circle on the summit of the knoll had already been planted when Colt Hoare visited the site c. 1820. No obviously original features are seen in the interior, but there is evidence of shallow quarrying immediately inside the inner rampart, doubtless to provide additional material for the defences. Apart from Roman coins, urns, a sword found in 1665, apparently inside the defences, and a record of small vases of Roman ware, nothing has been found on the site. A round barrow (ST 90 SE 33 D) lies just within the phase-2 defences on the NW. (3)

A survey of the hillfort has been undertaken by the Dorset Institute of Higher Education. An AP survey of the surrounding area has revealed several new features.

ST 964 030. Badbury Rings. Listed in gazetteer as hillfort with two phases of construction. The first (questionably) of these was a multivallate structure covering 7.3ha, the second a univallate enclosure of some 16.6ha.

Badbury. Description with air photograph and plan.

A detailed survey of the hillfort by the RCHME was undertaken between April and June 1993. The defences are as described. In addition, the substantial berm, up to 15m wide, which separates the middle rampart and ditch from the outer enclosing bank is covered in a profusion of low mounds and shallow hollows. Several of the hollows, especially on the SE have a rounded sub-rectangular shape, measuring up to 17m in width and are regular enough to suggest that they may be sites of buildings. There are also traces of a very slight quarry ditch, no more than 0.2m deep, running parallel with the inside of the outer rampart and most noticeable on the NW side.

A number of other potential structures are terraced into a quarry scoop immediately behind the innermost rampart. These show little variation in form, all being sub-rectangular in appearance with diameters between 4.5m to 10m and are particularly concentrated around the SW. The quarry scoop itself is a shallow scarp, up to 0.4m deep, set back and running parallel to the rampart. In total up to 28 potential hut sites have been identified within the quarry scoop.

A spread of burnt flint was observed across the SE section of the interior.

Further interior features have been recorded as separate child records - (UID's 1060432; 1060444; 1060452; 1060498).

A full field survey report is available in the NMR Archives.

The summit area of Badbury rings was cleared of undergrowth in 1997 by the National Trust and the young conifer plantation was thinned out. Post and wire fences which protected the plantation were removed as part of this work. This comprehensive clearance offered the opportunity for the RCHME to complete the large scale survey of the hilltop which proved impractical in 1993 because of the vegetation cover.

Three tree ring enclosures around the summit area of the hill survive. They are visible as banks each with vestiges of a ditch on the downhill side and they are all uniformly circular. The outer bank, c123.5m in overall diameter is on average 3.6m wide and 0.6m high. The middle bank, c 96.0m in overall diameter is on average 3.5m wide and 0.4m high whilst the inner bank is c 70.0m in overall diameter and on average 3.5m wide and 0.3m high. The ditches, up to 0.4m deep, are best preserved on the SW side of the hill. None of these banks are interrupted but all have been cut or damaged by either access paths, tree growth, stump removal, or various forms of erosion. The concentric banks overlie or in some cases absorb linear scarps which occur either along or across the contours of the hillslope. These scarps reveal that earthworks existed before the tree banks were constructed.

The hilltop is now somewhat disturbed by slight amorphous mounds and shallow depressions. The earthworks are distorted by the tree growth, holes caused by uprooted trees and superficial disturbance : the result of trampling by deer sheltering under the trees. A slight, polygonal shaped earthwork defined by an 0.2 - 0.3m high scarp appears to enclose the summit but it is confused by numerous short scarps and shallow pits. Its origin and function, if any, are uncertain.

One or two of the shallow depressions may prove to mark occupation sites but others are almost certainly caused by uprooted trees. A number of the depressions especially the large sub-square scoop on the northern slope cuts through the inner, post-medieval, tree enclosure bank.

A compass viewpoint has been established on the summit and five concrete blocks, anchor points for the tensioning wires and halyards of a mast, occur on the western slope. (The three large concrete blocks are each 1.6m by 1.5m with three iron hoops set in one side. The two smaller blocks are each 1.0m by 0.9m with two iron hoops, each set in opposing sides) (8)


An Iron Age hill-fort situated on a prominent domed knoll commanding wide views in all directions. Multiple ramparts and V-shaped ditches enclose a roughly oval area of around 17 acres. In 1975 the inner rampart was described as 60 to 80 feet wide and rising to 10 feet above the interior and up to 25 feet above the bottom of the adjacent ditch, 40 feet wide. The outer rampart was described as rising up to 18 feet above the inner ditch and 15 to 22 feet above the outer ditch, which is 40 feet wide and up to 6 feet deep. The hillfort has a simple entrance on the east and a rather more elaborate one on the western side, protected by an additional bank between the two ramparts. This entrance was later simplified by being cut through, possibly in the Roman period.

The site was digitally plotted from lidar imagery during the Dorset Middle Stour AI&M Project. (4)

N CBA N/L Group 12 April 1987 11
Badbury Rings/pencil survey
Badbury Rings, Roman road and barrows/pencil survey
Badbury Rings hillfort (1993)/ink survey
Badbury Rings Hillfort (1993)
Badbury Rings/pencil profiles
Two profiles; across defences on NE beside trig. Point; across defences beside W entrance
Badbury Rings, (sheet 2) part of outer ramparts/pencil survey
Badbury Rings, (sheet 1) part of innner ramparts and E and W entrances/pencil survey
Badbury Rings hillfort (1993), sheet1/pencil survey
Sheet 1 of 2
Badbury Rings hillfort (1993), sheet2/pencil survey
Sheet 1 of 2
Badbury Rings (1998)/ink survey

Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1945, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1944, 19-30 (Serial). SDO44.

1976, Badbury Rings Working Party Report (Unpublished document). SDO20668.

Papworth, M, 1994, Shapwick Parish, Kingston Lacy Estate, Wessex Region, 58 (Unpublished document). SDO14228.

Badbury Rings is a multivallate Iron Age hill fort. It occupies a prominent chalk know with good views in all directions. It has never been excavated but RCHM (1975, 63) has suggested that it was built in two phases. The hillfort occupies 16.5 hectares of land. The inner rampart is up to 24m wide and rises 3m high above the interior, and up to 7.5m high above the adjacent ditch which is 12m wide. The outer rampart is separated. Immediately outside is a second rampart standing up to 5.5 m above the inner ditch and up to 6.7m above the outer ditch, the ditch is 12m wide. The outer rampart is separated from the middle rampart by a berm 15m wide. The outer rampart and ditch is thought to be part of the second phase and is smaller than the inner defences. The rampart is 1.5m high above the interior and 4.5m above the outer ditch. The ditch where it survives is up to 7.5m wide. The uneven surface of the outer rampart may indicate that it was built quickly, perhaps in response to the Roman invasion, and not completely finished. There are two entrances to the fort. That through an outwork on the west side is probably the main entrance with the secondary entrance sited on the east side. Breaches in the middle and outer ramparts, aligned with the west entrance in the inner rampart, are thought to be Roman work. The breaches may represent slighting of the hillfort following its capture. It should be noted that neither the 1742 map nor the 1773 map of Badbury show, what are claimed to be, the original gaps in the middle and inner rampart on the west side. Only the “Roman” breaches are shown.
The site has been identified with Arthur’s battle of Mount Baden in the 6th century and it was occupied briefly by Edward the Elder in 901AD and by Dorset Clubmen in 1645. In the medieval period the Badbury Hundred court was held here. The outer rampart overlies the edge of barrow 112,015 and the middle rampart cuts a barrow 112,261. The two sites indicate the importance of the hill before the Iron Age hillfort was constructed. After scrub clearance of the domed interior of the hillfort (autumn 1992) the earthwork evidence of occupation was clearly visible and this has been surveyed by RCHME. There are sites within the inner rampart of Post-medieval date. The top of the hill is occupied by Badbury Clump 112,559. There was a plantation here by 1742 (DCRO/BA) and medieval, 16th and 17th references to the site indicate that there were trees here then. Two dew ponds (112,561) within the inner rampart were probably excavated to hold drinking water for livestock. The top of the hill has been used for signals. A beacon was sited here during the Napoleonic war and the concrete anchors for a 1940s radio mast are still visible (112,709).

Papworth, M, 2001, Badbury Rings, Shapwick. Interim report on the west side of the hillfort interior. (Unpublished document). SDO14690.

Papworth, M, 2005, Excavation and geophysical survey at Badbury Rings 2005: interim report (Unpublished document). SDO17251.

Lock, G, and Ralston, I, 2017, Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland [ONLINE], EN3580 (Digital archive). SDO17130.

<1> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Map 6in, 1902 (Map). SWX1540.

(Centred ST 964030) Badbury Rings (Camp) (NR)

<2> Ordnance Survey, 1931, Roman Britain, 4th Ed 1978 (Map). SDO17343.

(Centred ST 9603) VINDOCLADIA (Accepted name)

<3> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1975, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume V (East), 61-63 (Monograph). SDO129.

‘(34) BADBURY RINGS (964030), a multivallate Iron Age hill-fort (Plate 62), is sited prominently on a Chalk knoll rising to 327 ft. above O.D.; it commands wide views in all directions. Together with the adjacent settlement (31) it has been identified with Vindocladia of the Antonine Itinerary, and also with Mons Badonicus of Gildas. Its later history includes occupation by an army under Ethelwold, c. 899, and by the ‘Clubmen’ in 1645.
The site has not been excavated, but the earthworks indicate at least two phases of construction. The first phase appears to comprise the two inner ramparts and ditches, enclosing an oval of 17 acres. The inner rampart, 60 ft. to 80 ft. wide, rises 10 ft. above the interior and up to 25 ft. above the bottom of the adjacent ditch, which is 40 ft. wide. Immediately outside is a second rampart, standing up to 18 ft. above the inner ditch and from 15 ft. to 22 ft. above the outer ditch; the latter is 40 ft. wide and up to 6 ft. deep. Both ditches have markedly V-shaped profiles. The phase-I enclosure had two entrances; on the E. is a straight gap through the ramparts, the ends of which are slightly inturned; on the W., an inturned entrance through the inner rampart and ditch is protected by a narrow, roughly rectangular barbican formed by the outer rampart, with an entrance at the S.W. corner. Near the centre of the W. side of the barbican, a later gap, perhaps Roman, is cut through the outer rampart and ditch (cf. Ashfield Gate at Hod Hill, Stourpaine; Richmond, Hod Hill II (1968), 90-1; Dorset III, 263-5).
In phase 2 the outer rampart and ditch were formed; they lie between 50 ft. and 100 ft. outside the inner defences and are considerably smaller. The rampart is 5 ft. high from the interior and up to 14 ft. high above the outer ditch; the ditch, where it survives, is up to 25 ft. wide and generally flat-bottomed. There are four gaps through the phase-2 defences. Those on the E. and S.W. are almost certainly original and are integrated with the entrances through the inner defences. That on the W. is a continuation of the (?) Roman gap in the barbican. That on the S. is relatively modern.
The interior of the hill-fort is domed and largely covered with trees and scrub. A prominent fir copse, Badbury Clump, within a low embankment circle on the summit of the knoll had already been planted when Colt Hoare visited the site c. 1820. No obviously original features are seen in the interior, but there is evidence of shallow quarrying immediately inside the inner rampart, doubtless to provide additional material for the defences. Apart from Roman coins, urns, a sword found in 1665, apparently inside the defences, and a record of small vases of Roman ware, nothing has been found on the site. A round barrow (55) lies just within the phase-2 defences on the N.W.
Selected bibliography: Wessex from the Air (1928), 58-61, incl. further bib. Matter; Hutchins III, 175-7; Colt Hoare, Ancient Wiltshire (1821), Roman Aera, 35-6; Air Photography for Archaeologists, (O.S. Prof. Paper No. 12, 1929), 40 and Pl. xviii; Arch. J., CIV (1947), 32-3; E.H.R., XLVIII (1932), 625; Dorset Procs., LI (1929), 104; Ibid., 66 (1944), 19-30; Journal of Celtic Studies (1958), 152-5; Britannia, I (1970), 34-82.’

<4> Environment Agency, 16-NOV-2021, LIDAR Environment Agency DTM (Aerial Photograph). SDO18034.

<5> Crawford, O G S and Keiller, A, 1928, Wessex from the Air, 58-61 (Monograph). SDO12591.

<5> Hogg, A H A, 1979, British hillforts: an index, 205 (Monograph). SDO17414.

<7> Donachie, J D, 1994, RCHME Field Survey Report: Badbury Rings Hillfort, Shapwick, Dorset (Monograph). SDO19358.

<8> Fletcher, M J, RCHME Field Investigation, 12-MAY-1998 (Unpublished document). SDO19701.

<9> National Record of the Historic Environment, 209560 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Apr 10 2024 11:35AM