Cholesbury Camp
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| Cholesbury Camp | |
|---|---|
 Interior of Cholesbury Camp | |
  Location within Buckinghamshire | |
| General information | |
| Architectural style | Iron Age hill fort |
| Location | Cholesbury, England |
| Coordinates | 51°45′22″N 0°39′14″W / 51.7561°N 0.6540°W |
| Construction started | 2nd century BC? |
| Technical details | |
| Size | 15 acres (6.1 ha) |
Cholesbury Camp is a large and well-preserved Iron Age hill fort on the northern edge of the village of Cholesbury in Buckinghamshire, England. It is roughly oval-shaped and covers an area, including ramparts, of 15 acres (6.1 ha),[1] and measures approximately 310 m (1,020 ft) north-east to south-west by 230 m (750 ft) north-west to south-east. The interior is a fairly level plateau which has been in agricultural use since the medieval period.[2] The hill fort is now a scheduled ancient monument.[1]
The fort is of the multivallate type, in other words having two or more lines of concentric earthworks. Most examples of such forts were built and used during the British Iron Age period between the 6th century BC and the Roman invasion of Britain in the 1st century AD.[2] The period of Cholesbury Camp's construction is unclear, but it has been suggested that it may lie between the 2nd and 1st centuries BC, during the middle to late Iron Age.[1][3] It was previously, though erroneously, attributed to the Danes and until the early 20th century was known locally as "The Danish Camp" and incorrectly recorded as such on maps.[2] It has also been suggested that it may have been constructed on the same site as an earlier, Bronze Age defensive structure.[4]
The fort is located in the Chiltern Hills at an altitude of over 190 m (620 ft). The porosity of the ground in the area severely limited the availability of surface water, essential for livestock, and therefore precluded year-round settlement adjacent to most of the upland pastures. However, there are two aquifer-fed water sources: Holy (or Holly) and Bury Ponds. The constancy of this supply, over many hundreds of years, is cited as being crucial to the decision as to where to site the hill fort and for the early establishment of the isolated community at Cholesbury.[5]
The earthen ramparts of the sub-oval shaped fort are today largely overgrown with a double belt of mature beech trees, planted in the early 19th century. Inside the ramparts the enclosed area is a level plateau 10 acres (4.0 ha) in area, treeless and given over to grazing. There are four entrances to the central enclosure, though only one is thought to be original.[2] Most of the ramparts still remain well-preserved, though along a 230 metres (750 ft) section of the southern side the ramparts are missing. The absence of earthworks in this section today is believed to be due to the demolition of ramparts to make way for buildings constructed between the 16th and early 19th centuries, together with associated livestock enclosures and allotments. However, there has also been speculation that the earthworks were always much more modest along this section, providing ample opportunity to exploit as sites for domestic habitation. As properties were built and later enlarged or replaced with more substantial buildings, and their associated allotments became gardens and orchards, the residue of the original ramparts were all but rubbed out and any remaining ditches almost completely infilled. The ramparts on the south-east and south-west quadrants consist principally of two sets of banks (inner and outer) each enclosing a large ditch. On the north-east and north-west quadrant there is a single ditch bounded on each side by a bank.[6]
The inner bank is on average 8 metres (26 ft) wide with a height that varies between 0.8 metres (2.6 ft) to 2 metres (6.6 ft). Its front slope is angled at about 35 degrees and the rear slope at 50 degrees. The broad, flat top of the bank does not appear to have been lined with timber or stonework.[6] The adjoining inner ditch ranges from 6 metres (20 ft) to 12 metres (39 ft) wide and 2.5 metres (8.2 ft) to 3 metres (9.8 ft) deep, in the shape of a steep-sided V with an inner slope of about 50 degrees. The outer bank is less distinct but is still visible on the northern side of the fort. The banks and ditches to the south-east are particularly well-preserved extending the ramparts for a distance of about 90 metres (300 ft).[1][7]
The outer ditch and banks of the north-west quadrant do not follow the curvature of the inner rampart over its whole length. The final 53 metres (174 ft) of the ditch runs almost straight out in a north-north-easterly direction. The triangular section so created is bounded on its northern edge by a shallow ditch and bank.[6]
