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ABBOTSBURY CASTLE

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Description

DESCRIPTION

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Bivallate Iron Age hillfort, developed from an earlier univallate hillfort.

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Abbotsbury Castle on Wears Hill, 700' above OD. Internal area 4.5
acres, total area covered about 10 acres. The enclosure occupies part
of the top of a ridge and is of roughly triangular form. The N, S and
E sides are defended by two ramparts with a medieval ditch following
the natural contours. At the SE end the defences consist of four
ramparts of which the innermost, now of slight elevation appears to
mark the original end of a single-ditched camp of the type associated
with Iron Age 'A'. This early rampart was superceded by a new bank,
raised outside and largely obliterating the early ditch, and
supplemented by two new ditches, forming a complex characteristic of
the Iron Age 'B'. At the W end there appears to have been an
enlargement of the defences, but here the most notable addition is a
small enclosure of squarish plan, with a ditch cutting through the
main ramparts of the camp. It has been conjectured to be a Roman
signal post, but there is no evidence [RCHM survey plan and
sections]. (1)

SY544866 Excavations at the south west corner of Abbotsbury Castle Hill-fort proved that a Roman Signal Station was not present (2-4)

SOURCE TEXT

(1) General reference

RCHM 1952 West Dorset 10 No 31

(2) Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies Britannia : a journal of Romano-British and kindred studies

(R Goodburn) 7, 1976 Page(s)360

(3) Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society

(J Beavis) 96, 1974 Page(s)56

(4) Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society

(J Beavis) 95, 1975 Page(s)51

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