Smedmore Hill Settlement

The site is regarded as a settlement occupied by a group of subsistence farmers during the Romano-British period. It is on the northern slope of Smedmore Hill, a limestone ridge; its total area is about 1.2 hectares (3.0 acres), reduced slightly by ploughing at the north-east edge.^[1][2]

It consists of a block of small enclosures of size 0.02 to 0.08 hectares (0.05 to 0.20 acres), separated by rubble-built banks of height up to 0.45 metres (1 ft 6 in), each one levelled using limestone rubble, so that the enclosures are terraced into the hillside. Around the edge of the settlement are traces of a bank, up to 0.9 metres (2 ft 11 in) high, on the south, south-west and south-east; four gaps in the bank are thought to be entrances. There are inward-turning banks, perhaps to direct livestock into the settlement, by the western entrance where there is a gap 35 metres (115 ft) wide.^[1][2]

There is an enclosure which is perhaps a paddock, about 150 metres (490 ft) east of the settlement; its size is about 92 by 74 metres (302 by 243 ft). To the north and north-east of this are lynchets with widths 18 to 30 metres (59 to 98 ft), probably used for cultivation.^[1]

There was investigation in 1956 on the east side of the settlement, during construction of a water pipe trench. Finds included pottery of the Iron Age and Romano-British period, including Samian ware.^[1][2]