<< Our Photo Pages >> Stanwick Hillfort - Hillfort in England in Yorkshire (North)
Submitted by vicky on Sunday, 21 July 2002 Page Views: 11634
Iron Age and Later PrehistorySite Name: Stanwick Hillfort Alternative Name: Stanwick Iron Age Fortifications; Stanwick CampCountry: England
NOTE: This site is 0.341 km away from the location you searched for.
County: Yorkshire (North) Type: Hillfort
Nearest Town: Darlington / Barnard Castle Nearest Village: Stanwick St John / Forcett
Map Ref: NZ17831229 Landranger Map Number: 92
Latitude: 54.505615N Longitude: 1.726164W
Condition:
5 | Perfect |
4 | Almost Perfect |
3 | Reasonable but with some damage |
2 | Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site |
1 | Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks |
0 | No data. |
-1 | Completely destroyed |
5 | Superb |
4 | Good |
3 | Ordinary |
2 | Not Good |
1 | Awful |
0 | No data. |
5 | Can be driven to, probably with disabled access |
4 | Short walk on a footpath |
3 | Requiring a bit more of a walk |
2 | A long walk |
1 | In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find |
0 | No data. |
5 | co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates |
4 | co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map |
3 | co-ordinates scaled from a bad map |
2 | co-ordinates of the nearest village |
1 | co-ordinates of the nearest town |
0 | no data |
Internal Links:
External Links:
I have visited· I would like to visit
Anne T visited on 19th Feb 2017 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 4 Access: 5 Stanwick Iron Age Fortifications:(note: whilst the main entrance of this enclosure can be driven to, getting onto the monument could be difficult because of the short climb to the top of the bank). We'd been in this area before, but to the churches of Stanwick St John and Forcett, to see the Anglo Saxon crosses. It was almost dark at the last visit, so I was glad to be able to see the site properly, although it is so large, it's only possible to glimpse parts. We managed to park opposite the main English Heritage entrance (with signpost), avoiding the myriads of walkers and horse riders who passed the site without seeming to take notice.
There are some quite steep wooden steps up to the top of the bank (the soil around has been eroded, so these (what look like) railway sleepers have been put in to aid walkers). These lead onto the top of the bank which is heavily overgrown with trees and shrubs, with ditches on both sides. About 100 metres into the walk northwards along this embankment, it opens out with a very steep ditch down into what looks like a quarried area. The Pastscape notes say the ditch was built into bedrock, but this looks like a modern quarry.
The bank carries on for quite a way, and from the road, you can trace its line curving round to a farmhouse in the distance, but the tree roots make it quite difficult to walk. On the opposite side of the road, the bank can be seen extending into the far distance, towards Forcett.
We drove slightly further up the road, and at the road junction for Aldbro and Stanwick, you could see more fortifications heading off into the distance. As usual, it was getting to be dusk by this point and we wanted to find the Roman bridge at Piercebridge, so headed off. Shame most of this Iron Age monument was on private land. It really would have been great to wander along/next to these defences. What a huge area it covers!
SumDoood visited on 12th Mar 2016 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 4 Access: 5 HUGE site. To reach the middle of the site I still had more than a mile to drive when I stopped to ask a young couple what a line of ancient-looking earthworks might be. I was very surprised to be told it was all part of the same huge site. I drove around, then I walked around, and I came to an excavated section of wall so wide, so high, and so well built that, oh, the shame of it, I assumed I'd made a mistake and it was Roman. But it isn't - it's proper Iron Age British!
Average ratings for this site from all visit loggers: Condition: 3 Ambience: 4 Access: 5
Documented by English Heritage, "the features now visible at Stanwick are the excavated remains of only a small part of an Iron Age rampart and ditch that encloses an area of 310 hectares (766 acres) and is nearly 6.5 kilometres (4 miles long)."
Pastscape records this site as Monument number 21862 and tells us that these are the remains of the 1st century AD defensive fortifications of the Brigantes tribe and that "the site has also been interpreted by some as a Brigantian "royal" centre, possibly of the pro-Roman "queen" Cartimandua or her anti-Roman ex-husband Venutius. Part of the site was later overlain by Post Medieval garden terrace features. The site is in the care of English Heritage." The site is scheduled as Historic England List ID 1016199, which includes a number of monuments (Stanwick Late Iron Age oppidum, Iron Age and medieval settlement, early Christian church and sculpture and post-medieval emparkment).
The Northern Antiquarian (TNA) also features a page for these fortifications - see their entry for Stanwick Fortifications, North Yorkshire, which gives directions for finding this site, together with a 1850 map of the earthworks, a brief archaeology & history with details of all 3 phases and a plan showing the 3 phase evolution of the earthworks from the Iron Age (1954). Also see The Journal of Antiquities' entry for Stanwick Iron Age Hillfort, North Yorkshire, which includes a plan of the fort, photographs, background information and a list of reference sources for more information.
The churches of Forcett and Stanwick St John are both visible from the English Heritage entrance to the site. These churches both lie within the fortifications contain interesting Anglo Saxon stone crosses and sculptures.
You may be viewing yesterday's version of this page. To see the most up to date information please register for a free account.
Do not use the above information on other web sites or publications without permission of the contributor.
Click here to see more info for this site
Nearby sites
Click here to view sites on an interactive OS mapKey: Red: member's photo, Blue: 3rd party photo, Yellow: other image, Green: no photo - please go there and take one, Grey: site destroyed
Download sites to:
KML (Google Earth)
GPX (GPS waypoints)
CSV (Garmin/Navman)
CSV (Excel)
To unlock full downloads you need to sign up as a Contributory Member. Otherwise downloads are limited to 50 sites.
Turn off the page maps and other distractions
Nearby sites listing. In the following links * = Image available
247m NNW 329° St Cuthbert (Forcett)* Ancient Cross (NZ177125)
745m ESE 115° Stanwick Crosses* Ancient Cross (NZ18511198)
915m ESE 109° Kirkbridge Farmhouse Barrow* Round Barrow(s) (NZ187120)
4.2km NE 47° Howe Hill (Piercebridge)* Round Barrow(s) (NZ20881515)
4.4km NE 47° Betty Watson's Hill* Round Barrow(s) (NZ21041526)
4.5km SSW 213° Mainsgill Farm* Modern Stone Circle etc (NZ154085)
4.5km NNW 348° St. Mary's Well (Gainford)* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (NZ169167)
4.7km N 351° Gainford Stone* Rock Art (NZ1708016920)
5.4km NNW 342° Gainford Spa* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (NZ16131738)
5.5km NW 320° Winston Shap Erratic* Natural Stone / Erratic / Other Natural Feature (NZ14251645)
5.5km NE 48° Smotherlaw Barrow* Round Barrow(s) (NZ21881601)
5.6km ENE 58° St Edwin's (High Coniscliffe)* Ancient Cross (NZ2257815234)
5.8km WNW 293° Cockshot Camp* Hillfort (NZ12491458)
6.3km NNW 328° Winston Station Rock Art (NZ1445017650)
6.5km WNW 289° St Mary's Church (Wycliffe)* Ancient Cross (NZ1167314325)
6.5km WSW 237° The Dalton Stone Rock Art (NZ1240008700)
7.4km WSW 239° Dalton Portable 1 & 2 Rock Art (NZ1150008500)
7.8km SE 140° Five Hills round barrow* Round Barrow(s) (NZ2293006325)
8.2km SW 234° Castle Steads* Hillfort (NZ112075)
8.7km SW 226° Feldom Ranges 8a* Rock Art (NZ1155606266)
8.7km NW 317° Cleatlam Wayside Cross* Ancient Cross (NZ1189318683)
8.7km SW 225° Feldom Ranges 6c* Rock Art (NZ1166906063)
8.8km WNW 282° The Mortham Stones Natural Stone / Erratic / Other Natural Feature (NZ09251415)
8.8km W 275° Greta Bridge Roman Site Rock Art (NZ0905012950)
8.8km SW 219° Feldom Ranges 17b* Rock Art (NZ1229205448)
View more nearby sites and additional images