<< Our Photo Pages >> Churchdown Hill Camp - Hillfort in England in Gloucestershire
Submitted by 4clydesdale7 on Monday, 05 September 2011 Page Views: 11110
Iron Age and Later PrehistorySite Name: Churchdown Hill Camp Alternative Name: Churchdown CampCountry: England
NOTE: This site is 0.244 km away from the location you searched for.
County: Gloucestershire Type: Hillfort
Nearest Town: Gloucester Nearest Village: Churchdown
Map Ref: SO881189
Latitude: 51.868547N Longitude: 2.174236W
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 |
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4clydesdale7 visited on 4th Sep 2011 - their rating: Cond: 2 Amb: 3 Access: 5 To the Archaeology tutor and his faithful 'pupils' - your perseverance and tenacity (in 1972) paid off (see site narrative) - I hope Severn-Trent Water Board (thus they are now known) need to refurbish pipes etc again and that people of your calibre are brought in to investigate - pity about the reservoirs - they are a dreadful eyesore
It was not until 1821 that any noted expert suggested there was a hill fort on Churchdown Hill- the idea was first promulgated by a Mr Barwick-Baker - previously Samuel Rudder had omitted to make any entry about this camp in his epic New History of Gloucestershire (1779) - a Rev. F.W. Smithe suggested in 1880 that (although no-one else had mentioned it previously) he could see the line of an ancient rampart and ditch extending from the hilltop away from the churchyard (see photo) - and so the debate continued - G.B.Witts (1883) gives the site a mention but seems hesitant to endorse any previous opinion Camp No.25 -
A hollow way (see photo) could be made out running from Churchdown Green passing a Roman Well (the Mussel Well) climbing to the NW corner of the site - then archaeologists became quite adamant that the geology had revealed that the soils etc were inadequate to support an hill fort (although by then a church had been built within the site) -
Then the local Water Board built three very large covered reservoirs within the site - later some new pipes were needed and so in 1972 trenches were being dug to the Southwest by the then North West Gloucestershire Water Board across Soldiers' Walk (see photo) - a Mr Bernard Rawes began to find ox and sheep bones burnt clay and charcoal and reported the finds to The Gloucester and District Archaeological Research Group who considered that an investigation was paramount - after a Mr Garrod admitted that he had made some finds in 1966 they commissioned a report and an archaeological tutor (with six pupils) began a 'dig' - more finds were made (pottery sherds etc) - and a presentation to BGAS resulted in the site being declared an Iron Age hill fort (1977) - it was thought that the construction of the fort resembled closely other forts at Bredon Hill and Sutton Walls (glacis construction) - there has been no further investigatory excavation since -
The site has been so seriously damaged by the building of a church, a cottage and three massive covered reservoirs, never mind periodic landslips of the very sandy soil, it would be a moot point as to whether it is still possible to gain any more evidence -
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