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<< Our Photo Pages >> Uley Bury - Hillfort in England in Gloucestershire

Submitted by vicky on Monday, 14 October 2002  Page Views: 22987

Iron Age and Later PrehistorySite Name: Uley Bury
Country: England County: Gloucestershire Type: Hillfort
Nearest Town: Dursley  Nearest Village: Uley
Map Ref: ST78459891  Landranger Map Number: 162
Latitude: 51.688527N  Longitude: 2.31314W
Condition:
5Perfect
4Almost Perfect
3Reasonable but with some damage
2Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site
1Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks
0No data.
-1Completely destroyed
4 Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
4 Access:
5Can be driven to, probably with disabled access
4Short walk on a footpath
3Requiring a bit more of a walk
2A long walk
1In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find
0No data.
4 Accuracy:
5co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates
4co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map
3co-ordinates scaled from a bad map
2co-ordinates of the nearest village
1co-ordinates of the nearest town
0no data
5

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I have visited· I would like to visit

lichen visited on 2nd Aug 2013 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 4 Access: 4

4clydesdale7 visited on 28th May 2011 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 4 Access: 3 Wonderful in a refreshingly strong gale - spectacular views - quite a feat of ancient engineering

TheWhiteRider visited on 20th Jun 2010 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 5 Access: 4

woodini254 visited on 21st Nov 1993 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 4 Access: 4

DrewParsons have visited here

Average ratings for this site from all visit loggers: Condition: 4 Ambience: 4.25 Access: 3.75

Uley Bury
Uley Bury submitted by camperman : The Southern entrance with the hollow way leading down the slope. (Vote or comment on this photo)
Hillfort in Gloucestershire

Additional information supplied by Drew Parsons in September 2011: This 13 hectare Iron Age hill fort at 235 metres dates from 300 BC to 100 AD. It is a bivallate fort with its two ramparts clearly visible along its oblong 1.6 kilometre perimeter. There is a small area for cars to park at the north end of the fort on the road running north and uphill from Uley village. The turning into the parking area is obscure and is at the top of the hill. A footpath to the south of the parking area leads 50 metres through one of the fort's gates to a site sign and the start of the ramparts which are very well preserved. The GPS coordinates for the site sign at the north eastern side of the fort are: 51.69165N and 02.30973W.
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Uley Bury
Uley Bury submitted by Humbucker : View across The Severn Valley from the north western end of Uley Bury. (2 comments - Vote or comment on this photo)

Uley Bury
Uley Bury submitted by Humbucker : The southern entrance to Uley Bury hillfort. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Uley Bury
Uley Bury submitted by Humbucker : Downham Hill from the south western ramparts of Uley Bury. (2 comments - Vote or comment on this photo)

Uley Bury
Uley Bury submitted by camperman : An aerial view from the North West showing the saddle connecting the fort to the high ground, with steep slopes on all sides providing natural defence. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Uley Bury
Uley Bury submitted by camperman : Uley Bury, a view from the South West showing the steep slopes, with ditches and ramparts atop the Cotswold scarpface.

Uley Bury
Uley Bury submitted by AngieLake : A view over the rounded bank of the defences on the NE side of Uley Bury, looking SE.

Uley Bury
Uley Bury submitted by AngieLake : Looking N across the interior of the hillfort from the SE corner. 22nd Sept.

Uley Bury
Uley Bury submitted by AngieLake : Approaching the rounded humps either side of the SE entrance.

Uley Bury
Uley Bury submitted by AngieLake : Looking NNW along the S (or SW) escarpment with Cam Long Down and S. Wales in the distance, showing how steep the natural defences are. 22nd Sept.

Uley Bury
Uley Bury submitted by camperman : Aerial view from the West showing the steep slopes around the promontory.

Uley Bury
Uley Bury submitted by camperman : Uley Bury looking at the South West scarp looking North.

Uley Bury
Uley Bury submitted by camperman : This view looking South over the hilly Cotswold countryside shows Uley Bury in the distance proudly standing out from the Cotswold scarp face.

Uley Bury
Uley Bury submitted by Humbucker : The steep lower ramparts at the western end of Uley Bury.

Uley Bury
Uley Bury submitted by Humbucker : Uley Bury - Eastern corner with the tiered ramparts and entrance.

Uley Bury
Uley Bury submitted by Humbucker : Uley Bury hillfort. The southern ramparts from the interior of the fort.

Uley Bury
Uley Bury submitted by Humbucker : Brooding behind Downham Hill, Uley Bury from the road.

Uley Bury
Uley Bury submitted by AngieLake : This view shows how steep the southern (or SW) escarpment is, here looking SE towards stormy skies on a day that thunder and lightning had been forecast. (Not the ideal place to be during a storm like that!) 22nd Sept.

Uley Bury
Uley Bury submitted by AngieLake : Looking to the NNW across the SW corner of the escarpment defences, with Downham Hill to the left now and Cam Long Down to the rear.

Uley Bury
Uley Bury submitted by AngieLake : Coming to the SW corner of the escarpment banks around Uley Bury to be greeted with stunning views towards Downham Hill, on 22nd Sept.

Uley Bury
Uley Bury submitted by AngieLake : Walking along the NW side of Uley Bury, looking S, there were cattle in the interior, which is fenced off. 22nd Sept. (This narrower track is inclined to be very muddy in places.)

Uley Bury
Uley Bury submitted by AngieLake : Walking along the NW side of Uley Bury, looking back to the N. This narrower path was very muddy in places that day (22nd Sept).

Uley Bury
Uley Bury submitted by DrewParsons : The northern entrance, passed through 50 metres after leaving the small car park at the top of the hill north of the villlage of Uley. September 2011.

Uley Bury
Uley Bury submitted by DrewParsons : The south eastern gate. September 2011.

Uley Bury
Uley Bury submitted by DrewParsons : View from the top rampart with the 13 hectare enclosure to the left of the rampart. September 2011.

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 1.1km WNW 303° Cam Long Down Hillfort* Hillfort (ST7753399507)
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"Uley Bury" | Login/Create an Account | 13 News and Comments
  
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Re: Uley Bury by Anonymous on Saturday, 23 August 2014
Ive walked around uley bury a few times and on my way back down ive noticed a recent but abandoned installation in the woods on the hillside, its fenced off but the gate is usually open. its sort of like an air raid shelter but its at the top of a hill so unlikely. anyone know what it is?
[ Reply to This ]
    Re: Uley Bury by Anonymous on Saturday, 23 August 2014
    PS. its just a bit further down from where the 7th pic down is taken
    [ Reply to This ]
    Re: Uley Bury by Anonymous on Thursday, 02 June 2016
    It is an old water storage tank
    [ Reply to This ]

Re: Uley Bury, from book 'Uley - A Cotswold Village' by AngieLake on Thursday, 07 March 2013
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While reading this book, published in 1983, as a part of some Celtic Britain research, I read this about Uley Bury:
(NB: here the fort is described as 'univallate', but Drew found it to be described as 'bivallate'.)

“The Celtic tribe which occupied this area was the Dobunni, originally from Belgium. They lived mainly in the villages and towns set on fortified hilltops, and by far the largest of these in the Cotswolds was Uley Bury. It is also one of the best preserved.

The site occupies 32 acres. It is surrounded by a ditch (fossa), which is unusually wide because the bank (vallum) surrounding the ditch seems to have been created from soil removed from the inside; the result is a wide sloping terrace between the bank and the level occupation area in the centre, in which some enclosures have been identified by aerial photography. The camp is univallate (one rampart only); its naturally defensive position would make further fortification unnecessary. The rampart follows the spurs of the hill and may have been faced by dry-stone walling.

There were three entrances. The north entrance from Crawley Hill would have been the main one, though a dig in 1976 revealed little of interest here. At the second entrance, in the south-east corner, undisturbed remains of a small Iron Age gateway were revealed, with holes which would have been the footings of a timber gate, and an Iron Age cobbled road. Other finds were: a bronze ring with a headed pin, a blue glass bead, a horse bit, a pinannular brooch, and shale bracelets from Dorset. Between these two entrances, and between two limestone slabs, was found a skeleton in a knees-to-chest crouched position. This helps to date the earthworks to between the second and third century B.C.

We can make some informed guesses about the life of the Dobunni in such a fortified village. They were farmers and kept small black cattle, pigs, sheep, goats, poultry and dogs. They grew wheat, barley, beans, sathen (similar to spinach), and apples. Their diet was therefore varied; they ate porridge sweetened with honey, fish baked in clay, spit-roasted pork, milk, cheese, and boiled beef. One method of stewing meat was to heat large stones in the fire and throw them into wooden troughs to bring the water to the boil.
Houses were round pit-dwellings with a straw-covered mud floor, dry-stone walls, and a roof of straw and rush held up by wooden posts; in the centre would be a fire.
Woollen cloth was used to make cloaks and tunics, coloured by dyes made from saffron (yellow), and lichens (purple and red). The Dobunni made coins and iron currency bars, sophisticated jewellery, and used swords and spears as well as slings and stones.

During the two or three hundred years prior to the Roman Conquest there was probably a considerable degree of stability and a more sophisticated civilization than is commonly realised. And even before Caesar’s landing in 55 B.C. there was a good deal of trade between the Roman-occupied continent and Celtic Britain.”
[ Reply to This ]
    Re: Uley Bury, from book 'Uley - A Cotswold Village' by 4clydesdale7 on Friday, 08 March 2013
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    The book 'Uley - A Cotswold Village' was remarkably well researched and contains a wealth of medieval and later information about the village itself -

    The Victorians never did ascertain the use to which 'Uley Bury', some 250ft above and very much older than the village, was put - the most acceptable theory today is that it was a cattle compound - so far as I am aware there is no direct archaeological evidence that at any time it was a settlement -

    There are the remains of a Romano-British Temple between the Bury and Hetty Peglar's Tump - there was also a Roman Settlement/Farm a short way to the east at Kingscote - I do not believe the Dobunni ever occupied any of these sites -

    And then there are the enigmatic Cross Dyke and a few more Long/Round Barrows just beyond HPT towards Stroud - great if you do not weaken!
    [ Reply to This ]
      Re: Uley Bury, from book 'Uley - A Cotswold Village' by AngieLake on Saturday, 09 March 2013
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      Yes, you're quite right 4clydesdale7 - it is a lovely little book, full of useful information. I picked it up in Oxfam in Torquay recently.
      I was most interested in the Romano-British temple as I'm comparing those kinds of site in an effort to learn more about them and where one might be possibly found in the N.Tawton/Bow area of mid-Devon, where there are many villages whose names contain the word 'nymet', which derives from 'nemeton' = 'Sacred Grove'. (Nympsfield is another link.)
      I was approached by the then chairman of Bow History Soc in Oct 2010 who thinks there should be a major Celtic Sanctuary in the area so, since then, a friend and I have been gradually (slowly!) working on the project. I've compiled such a lot of info, there are now about 8 files of stuff. That includes details of two possible smaller sites we've found.
      The mid-Devon area contains a henge and a Roman fort and Roman marching camp, and was once very wooded, and still has some Celtic name places other than 'nymet' ones. It also has an ancient trading route running through it.
      Oddly enough, my own paternal ancestors come from the north-western fringes of our target area!
      When better weather comes we're going to investigate 'on site'/'s', and hopefully take a trip to Uley and Nympsfield, and Lydney and see what those areas are like 'in the flesh'!
      Do you know if it is easy to access the West Hill Romano-British temple site these days?

      (I have dowsed Maiden Castle's Romano-British temple and the results are on Meg P, in Art/Dowsing. Maybe that's why I was approached in the first place?)
      [ Reply to This ]
      Re: Uley Bury, from book 'Uley - A Cotswold Village' by 4clydesdale7 on Saturday, 09 March 2013
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      The Dursley - Uley - Selsley - Stroud B4066 road will take you close to most of the multitude of sites passing Uley Bury, West Hill RB Villa/Temple, Hetty Peglars Tump, Nympsfield Long Barrow, The Soldiers Grave, Buckholt Wood Long and Round Barrows, The King Stanley Cross Dyke and The Toots L/Barrow - at all these sites bar one there is something to be seen - the exception being the one you would have preferred to see -

      Unfortunately for you there is nothing to be seen on the RB Temple site West Hill - the site was only discovered during pipeline works in the mid/late 1970s and has since suffered badly from modern agricultural workings - there are also many small quarries locally - there is no public footpath across the site but the B4066 and two footpaths form a triangular shape around it - there is similarly little to see of the Roman Settlement at the Chessalls near Kingscote to the east

      However there is a superb tithe barn on the Roman Farm/Settlement at Frocester just to the north west in the Severn Vale - lots to see and some nice village pubs to stay at overnight - and then there is the local Uley beer 'Gloucester Old Spot' - are you tempted yet?
      [ Reply to This ]
        Re: Uley Bury, from book 'Uley - A Cotswold Village' by AngieLake on Saturday, 09 March 2013
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        Oooh, yes, definitely tempted! Thank you very much for all the useful info here.
        Shame about the temple site, though.
        :-)
        [ Reply to This ]

Re: Uley Bury by DrewParsons on Tuesday, 27 September 2011
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Additional information supplied by Drew Parsons in September 2011: This 13 hectare Iron Age hill fort at 235 metres dates from 300 BC to 100 AD. It is a bivallate fort with its two ramparts clearly visible along its oblong 1.6 kilometre perimeter. There is a small area for cars to park at the north end of the fort on the road running north and uphill from Uley village. The turning into the parking area is obscure and is at the top of the hill. A footpath to the south of the parking area leads 50 metres through one of the fort's gates to a site sign and the start of the ramparts which are very well preserved. The GPS coordinates for the site sign at the north eastern side of the fort are: 51.69165N and 02.30973W.
[ Reply to This ]

Re: Uley Bury by selphie on Wednesday, 22 December 2010
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When you go to the site it is worth looking at the north side of the site just south of the small car park. There is what might just be the remains a small artificial mound. I'll put up a couple of photos.
[ Reply to This ]

Re: Uley Bury by coldrum on Wednesday, 28 April 2010
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Street View


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New Interpretation Board by Anonymous on Wednesday, 19 April 2006
The reasons why Uley Bury, near Dursley is such an important landmark have been set in stone. A new interpretation board explaining the history, archaeology, ecology and geology of the site was unveiled yesterday.

The bury stands at 650ft and is topped by an Iron Age hill fort.

Local councillor Janet Wood explained that several things had happened at the site over the last four years and an interpretation board had been put in place to add to the experience of visitors.

"We have introduced grazing to Uley Bury to restore it to its former glory and this will hopefully encourage wild flowers to reseed and flourish," she said.

The interpretation board, set in stone from Farmington Quarry, has been funded by the Cotswold Conservation Board and Gloucestershire's archaeology service.

http://www.thisisgloucestershire.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=138943&command=displayContent&sourceNode=138769&contentPK=14275332&folderPk=80412
[ Reply to This ]

Re: Uley Bury by ernar on Saturday, 21 August 2004
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It seems this Fort is going to be restored, according to the "This is Gloucestershire, The Citizen (19 August 2004)".

Find the full article here.

This is always good news. Now, if there were a way for the same to happen in Spain.....

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