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ABOUT THIS MONUMENT
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Earthwork remains of an Iron Age hillfort with evidence for earlier Late Bronze Age occupation, and possible later Roman settlement. Chalbury (ST 695838) is a contour hill-fort with single rampart and external ditch the former augmented by an interior quarry ditch, or line of quarry pits, running inside it for 3/5 of its length. There is one original entrance at the south east. The interior, of about 8 1/2 acres, shows extensive signs of occupation. The rampart encloses the domed crest of a knoll, partly Lower Purbeck Limestone and partly Portland Sands, standing prominently at 380 ft, above sea level in a controlling position at the north end of a ridge (Rimbury) which splits a valley leading inland from Weymouth Bay. Excavation by Miss M. Whitley in 1939 has shown that it belongs to the Early Iron Age.
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| URL: |
http://www.pastscape.org/hob.aspx?hob_id=452691
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| MONUMENT NUMBER: |
452691 |
COUNTY: |
DORSET
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| NMR NUMBER: |
SY 68 SE 32 |
DISTRICT: |
WEST DORSET |
| LAST UPDATED: |
N/A |
PARISH: |
BINCOMBE |
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AREA: |
N/A |
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STREET: |
N/A |
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MARITIME LOCATION: |
N/A |
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LOCATION: |
SY 694 838
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MORE INFORMATION & SOURCES
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(SY 694838) Chalbury (NR) (1)
Chalbury (ST 695838) is a contour hill-fort with single rampart
and external ditch the former augmented by an interior quarry
ditch, or line of quarry pits, running inside it for 3/5 of its
length. There is one original entrance at the south east. The
interior, of about 8 1/2 acres, shows extensive signs of
occupation. The rampart encloses the domed crest of a knoll, partly
Lower Purbeck Limestone and partly Portland Sands, standing
prominently at 380 ft, above sea level in a controlling position
at the north end of a ridge (Rimbury) which splits a valley
leading inland from Weymouth Bay. Excavation by Miss M. Whitley
in 1939 has shown that it belongs to Iron Age "A".
Strip lynchets (SY 68 SE 42) run into the defences on the north,
and on the north east lie at their foot along the steep scarp
beneath them; on the east side are a narrow cultivation terrace
and terraced approach, both of uncertain date. The external ditch
running north from outside the entrance seems to have been
converted into a cultivation terrace for much of its length.
A large modern quarry bites almost up to the ditch on the west
and it is possible that shallow quarrying of a date later than
that of the original occupation might be partly responsible
for some of the more irregular sinkings inside the hill-fort. The
whole is now pasture. The nearest source of water at present
is a spring 1/2 a mile to the south.
The rampart stands 1 ft. to 3 ft. above the interior except
near the centre of the east side, where it is little more than
a scarped edge its height above the external ditch averages about
21 ft. Where excavated it was seen to have external and internal
limestone walls retaining the soil and stone core. Internally
there was also, at the south east a stone kerb at the tail of the
rampart. Externally, convenient stone out crops were utilised
in the structure of the wall and there was a berm 5 ft. to 9ft.
wide. The flat-bottomed ditch was cut into the bed-rock at a
variable distance below this. For the greater part the ditch has
a terraced appearance. On the east for 40 yards north from the
entrance it is rather irregular, some 2 ft. deep.
The internal quarry ditch runs north from the entrance as a
parallel-sided ditch for 115 yards. It was originally about
18 ft. wide and 5 ft. deep but was allowed to silt up quickly
and used as a sheltered occupation area. A "causeway" blocks
this run of ditch and thereafter it is supplanted by a series of
quarry pits, broken at the extreme north by another "causeway",
here found to consist largley of sand. About 100 yards south west
of this, the well-marked line of pits gives place to a series of
much shallower scalloped depressions which end abruptly after
a further 65 yards. There is, however, no apparent correlation
between the size and different treatment of the quarry ditch or
pits and the dimensions of the rampart immediately adjacent.
A flattened strip, 55 ft. and more wide, lies inside the south
rampart, the slight scarp defining it on the north side being
a continuation of that north of the entrance.
The entrance is a simple gap with slight hollowing, perhaps partly
cut rather than worn, immediately inside. A ramped approach
might be original. A track climbing diagonally across the
rampart 120 yards south west of the entrance is not original.
Two small banks run downhill from outside the ditch. One from
the natural shoulder at the south west, is 15 ft. wide and 1 ft.
high and ends after 33 yards before reaching the quarry edge.
The second 75 yds. to the north has a slight ditch on the south
side and it cut by the quarry after 25 yards.
The interior is pocked by numerous roughly circular depressions
and weakly-defined platforms. The latter, of which there are
30 or more, appear largely to be ranged around the perimeter,
though the hut "D" (see plan) built in a shallow Iron Age quarry,
was notably high up the slope. Only one platform, 20 yds. south
of the northern "causeway" across the quarry ditch, had a bank.
The most irregular depressions might be quarries of any date,
but if of the Iron Age are likely - as at "D" - to have been put
to some use. The smaller circular depressions up to about 15ft.
across, of which there are at least 20, probably represent
original storage pits. There are two main groups, one north of
hut "D" and one just west of round barrow (SY 68 SE 33). The only
excavated example (in the northern group) was round 5 ft. in
diameter and 4 ft. deep, with straight sides cut into the rock.
Both of the Bronze Age barrows (SY 68 SE 33), set so prominently
on the summit of the hill, were apparently respected.
The excavation of the hill-fort was limited to the following
features:- the rampart, ditch and quarry ditch 25 yds. north of
the entrance (site "A"), the rampart, quarry ditch and causeway
across it at the northern tip of the hill-fort (site "C"),
occupation layers with post-holes, probably a hut, in the
quarry ditch at site "A", building "D", two scooped-out platforms
with no signs of structure and few finds, and one storage pit.
The building "D", partly stone-walled, was the only site
completely excavated in the interior; it was odd in that, despite
abundant evidence of occupation across the internal diameter of 33
ft., it seemed to have neither hearth, entrance nor post-holes.
Apart from a Late Bronze Age layer buried under the rampart
at the extreme north a thin scatter of Romano-British potsherds
at site "D" and a fragment of Samian ware in the ditch, the finds
were all of Iron Age "A", exhibiting two phases, the earlier
having the finer specimens of haematite pottery. Hut "A" belonged
to the earlier phase and "D" to the later.
Other finds included a small tanged iron knife, bone "gouges"
(arrows?), a very small annular blue-glass bead, fragments of a
bronze ring, a bronze bracelet or ear-ring, bronze binding and
rivets, a piece of saddle-quern, charred wheat (identified at
Triticum vulgare by Prof. Percival), a spindle-whorl and
slingstones. There were also 11 worked flints, including an
end-scraper and borer, of somewhat uncertain date but apparently
stratified with the Iron Age material. Scatters of human bones were
found, but only a few animal bones - including ox and sheep.(2-3)
Chalbury (name confirmed): under permanent pasture and in good
state of preservation.
Resurveyed at 1:2500 on MSD (from RCHM plan). (4)
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SOURCE TEXT
( 1) Ordnance Survey Map (Scale / Date)
OS 1:10,000 1978
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( 2) Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England) 1970 An inventory of historical monuments in the County of Dorset. Volume three : central Dorset [in two parts]
Plan No 76 1970 Page(s)484,486-7
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( 3) The Antiquaries journal : journal of the Society of Antiquaries of London
(M Whitley) 23 - 1943 Page(s)98-121
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( 4) Scheduled Monument Notification
DOE (IAM) Anc Mons Eng 3.12.77 76
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( 5) Field Investigators Comments
F1 JGB 22-JUL-80
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