Monument record MDO7148 - Iron Age hillfort, Woodbury Hill, Bere Regis

An Iron Age hill-fort on the flat top of Woodbury Hill, formed by a bank and ditch enclosing an area of around 12 acres. The hillfort has been damaged in places by ploughing and later use. A gap on the south west side, and possibly one on the north east side, appear to be original entrances. The earthwork remains of this univallate hillfort are visible on aerial photographs.

An Iron Age hill-fort on the flat top of Woodbury Hill, formed by a bank and ditch enclosing an area of around 12 acres. In 1970 the best preserved part of the circuit of earthworks around the hill was described as a bank up to 40 feet wide and 19 feet high above a ditch 5 feet deep and 30 feet wide, with a counterscarp bank outside it. The hillfort has been damaged in places by ploughing and later use. A gap on the south west side, and possibly one on the north east side, appear to be original entrances; other gaps are later. In the medieval period there was a chapel inside the hillfort. Tradition has it that the nearby well was associated with this chapel, the footings of which could still be seen in the late 18th century.

One coin of Domitian and one of Septimius Severus were found behind the north rampart of the hill-fort at Woodbury. (Plan enlarged to 1:2500). <2>

The bivallate hillfort on Woodbury Hill (see plan 1) generally accords with the description of Authority <2>, though it is in poor condition. The interior has been ploughed and the inner face of the main rampart much reduced or destroyed. Much of the area is littered with oyster shells, clay-pipe stems and brick, resulting from the 19th century demolition of some twenty-four buildings, including cottages, shown on the Tithe Map and ranged along the track bisecting the hillfort. The southern end of the track utilizes what was probably the original entrance, deepened and widened by subsequent quarrying. The weakness of the rampart in the north-east would seem to preclude the possibility of an original entrance as suggested by <2>.

While the outer scarp of the main rampart remains to a height of 2.0 to 5.0 metres (see annotated plan), the counterscarp bank has been almost entirely levelled into the former ditch resulting in a terrace remaining only on the west and south sides. The Tithe Map shows that from the crest of the counterscarp the hillslope was divided into numerous garden plots, though little ground evidence remains. Most of the field banks shown on the O.S. 25" 1955 are now also destroyed. Surveyed at 1:2500 on M.S.D. <3>

The earthwork remains of this Iron Age univallate hillfort are visible on aerial photographs of Woodbury Hill <6>. A smaller rectilinear enclosure located within the hillfort (MDO29988) may be contemporaty with it, although a later date for this feature cannot be ruled out either. Parallel linear banks and ditches also located within and around the hillfort (MDO29989-92) are considered likely to be the result of later historic activity in this area. These features were digitally plotted during the Wild Purbeck Mapping Project.

<1> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Map 6in, 1963 (Map). SWX1540.

(Centred SY 856948) Camp (NR)

<2> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume II (South East) Part 3, 485-486 (Monograph). SDO150.

‘(118) WOODBURY (SY 89 SE; 856948) is a contour hill-fort which occupies the entire flat top of the gravel capped spur called Woodbury Hill 360 ft. above O.D., ½ mile E. of the parish church. The area enclosed is about 12 acres.
The defences, though now much broken down, consist of a main inner rampart, at best 40 ft. wide and 19 ft. high above a single ditch, 5 ft. deep and 30 ft. wide, and a relatively massive counterscarp bank up to 26 ft. across, beyond which the ground falls steeply on the E. side and greater part of the S. side. On the N.W. there is a sloping shelf between the ramparts and the steep face of the hill. On this shelf is a series of rather flat-topped parallel ridges 3 ft. high, 10 yds. or so wide. These are more likely to be connected with the annual sheep fairs once held in the hill-fort (Hutchins I, 135) than with agriculture. To the N. a gently dipping but fairly narrow saddle connects the spur with the main ridge. At this vulnerable point the outer bank seems to have been thrust about 70 yds. forward from the main rampart but the remains have been heavily ploughed. In the lane to the N.E. is a double fall which might mark the line of a ditch but this cannot be confirmed.
The present road in from the S.W. probably follows the line of an original entrance, as possibly does that at the N.E.; but all the other breaks in the defences seem to be secondary. The surface of the interior is uneven in many places but it is impossible to detect anything certainly ancient. The chapel shown on the plan certainly existed in the early 15th century and its footings were still traceable in the late 18th century (Hutchins, ibid). The nearby well was traditionally associated with it.’

<3> Attrill, N J, Field Investigators Comments NJA, F1 NJA 18-MAY-81 (Unpublished document). SDO14743.

<3.1> 1844, Bere Regis Tithe Map and Award (Map). SDO19621.

<4> Manley, H P, 2007, Woodbury Hill: Underground electricity cable - Watching Brief. Interim Report. (Unpublished document). SDO10633.

<5> Lock, G, and Ralston, I, 2017, Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland [ONLINE], EN3610 (Digital archive). SDO17130.

<6> Pan Government Agreement, 2008, PGA (Aerial Photograph). SDO13137.

<7> Royal Commission on Historic Monuments, Externally held archive: RCH01/093 RCHME Inventory: Dorset II (South-East), AA72/01788 (Unpublished document). SDO17434.

PLAN OF CONTOUR HILLFORT OCCUPYING THE ENTIRE FLAT TOP OF HILL THE RAMPARTS SURVIVE BEST AT THE NORTH-WEST CORNER PRESENT ENTRANCES PROBABLY NOT ORIGINAL

<8> Historic England, Historic England Archive, AF0887200 (Index). SDO14738.

RCHME: File - Bere Regis. Section through Roman road and plan of Woodbury Hill Camp.Contents : Plan, sectionCondition : INTACTBibliographic Reference: 1) Also pp. 11-22.

<9> Historic England, Historic England Archive, F52/72/4 (Index). SDO14738.

IA CONTOUR HILLFORT; SECTION A-B FROM WEST (A IN FOREGROUND) SEE PLAN (AA72/1788)

<10> Historic England, Historic England Archive, OS52/F72/4 (Index). SDO14738.

WOODBURY HILLFORT, BERE REGIS. SECT X-Y FROM THE WEST. Photographer: UNKNOWN

<11> National Record of the Historic Environment, 456110 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Sep 11 2024 4:43PM