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<< Our Photo Pages >> Abbotsbury Castle - Hillfort in England in Dorset

Submitted by JimChampion on Monday, 07 October 2002  Page Views: 23465

Iron Age and Later PrehistorySite Name: Abbotsbury Castle
Country: England County: Dorset Type: Hillfort
Nearest Town: Bridport  Nearest Village: Abbotsbury
Map Ref: SY555866  Landranger Map Number: 194
Latitude: 50.677349N  Longitude: 2.631167W
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.
5 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
3

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FrothNinja visited on 1st Aug 2013 - their rating: Cond: 2 Amb: 4 Access: 4

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Average ratings for this site from all visit loggers: Condition: 2.5 Ambience: 4

Abbotsbury Castle
Abbotsbury Castle submitted by mattimpey : From Abbotsbury Hillfort in Dorset looking East towards Chesil Beach. (Vote or comment on this photo)
Abbotsbury Hillfort in Dorset. A triangular enclosure of 1.8 hectares, with two ramparts separated by single ditch The defences are increased to 4 ramparts and larger ditches at the more vulnerable southeastern end. The bivallate hillfort was developed from a simpler univallate one, and the ramparts appear to have been constructed in a hurry with loads of soil dumped on the banks.

The trig-point at the top of the hillfort is 215 metres above sea-level. This makes it the highest point for quite some distance, and offers unrivalled views over the surrounding landscape. To the west is a hill called "The Knoll" which has several burial mounds. To the south-east is the village of Abbostbury and the Glastonbury Tor-like hill with St Catherine's chapel on the summit. To the north east is the Kingston Russell stone circle and the Grey Mare and her Colts long barrow. There are also impressive views of Chesil Beach and the Fleet stretching down to the Isle of Portland in the distance.

Access It is possible to park on a small lane immediately to the east of the hillfort, although there is room for only a few vehicles - turn north from the B3157 road at the top of the steep hill above Abbotsbury. The hillfort lies alongside a lofty portion of the South West Coast Path as it detours inland to avoid the perils of Chesil Beach.
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Abbotsbury Castle
Abbotsbury Castle submitted by adrianmcgrath : Abbotsbury Hillfort East entrance. Iron Age Drone! (Vote or comment on this photo)

Abbotsbury Castle
Abbotsbury Castle submitted by adrianmcgrath : Abbotsbury Hillfort from above. East entrance to the left of the pic. Iron Age Drone! (Vote or comment on this photo)

Abbotsbury castle
Abbotsbury castle submitted by caradoc68 : SY 555 866,Abbotsbury castle. Small hillfort at just under 2ha with great views over the English channel this hillfort could of been used as a observation post or trading post to supply larger hillforts a few miles to the north "Chilcombe hill and Eggardon hill" or the great Maiden castle 5 miles to the north west. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Abbotsbury Castle
Abbotsbury Castle submitted by DrewParsons : Abbotsbury Castle defensive earthworks (Vote or comment on this photo)

Abbotsbury Castle
Abbotsbury Castle submitted by adrianmcgrath : Abbotsbury Hillfort. West Side. iron Age Drone! (Vote or comment on this photo)

Abbotsbury Castle
Abbotsbury Castle submitted by bec-zog : Abbotsbury Hillfort:Iron Age SY 555,866 A triangular enclosure 1.8 hectare, with 2 ramparts separated by single ditch The defences are increased to 4 ramparts and larger ditches at the SE end.

Abbotsbury Castle
Abbotsbury Castle submitted by TimPrevett : View from the trig point on Abbotsbury Hillfort 13/08/17, ramparts and ditch visible in the foreground, access point from the car par, with glorious view to Chesil Beach, The Fleet and Portland.

Abbotsbury Castle
Abbotsbury Castle submitted by DrewParsons : The barrow inside the hill fort.

Abbotsbury Castle
Abbotsbury Castle submitted by DrewParsons : View across the site towards the coast.

Abbotsbury Castle
Abbotsbury Castle submitted by DrewParsons : View of the ditch and wall on one side of the hill fort.

Abbotsbury Castle
Abbotsbury Castle submitted by mattimpey : Abbotsbury Hillfort looking West.

Abbotsbury Castle
Abbotsbury Castle submitted by mattimpey : The remains of a wall bisecting Abbotsbury Hillfort near the middle. I do not know how old or who built it (hopefully a Roman).

Abbotsbury Castle
Abbotsbury Castle submitted by mattimpey : A closer look at the Barrow in the middle of Abbotsbury Hillfort.

Abbotsbury Castle
Abbotsbury Castle submitted by mattimpey : Abbotsbury Hillfort. The Barrow near the middle of the hillfort can be seen from the western end.

Abbotsbury Castle
Abbotsbury Castle submitted by mattimpey : The earthwork ditch & rampart of the Western side of the Abbotsbury Hillfort in Dorset. OS triangulation stone visible.

Abbotsbury Castle
Abbotsbury Castle submitted by JimChampion : December 2004. Looking east from the trig point on top of Abbotsbury hillfort. The hillfort's round tumulus is in the centre of the picture, with a person for scale. At a height of 215m above sea-level you get an impressive view of the surroundings: it is obvious why this site was chosen for a hillfort.

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Nearby sites listing. In the following links * = Image available
 713m W 276° Tulk's Hill Bowl Barrows Barrow Cemetery (SY54798668)
 2.4km NE 50° Kingston Russell Barrow* Round Barrow(s) (SY57358810)
 2.5km WNW 299° Puncknowle Bowl Barrows Round Barrow(s) (SY53308783)
 2.6km ENE 61° Kingston Russell Circle* Stone Circle (SY57798783)
 2.8km NE 54° Tenants Hill enclosure* Ancient Village or Settlement (SY5777688219)
 2.9km E 80° Grey Mare and her Colts* Long Barrow (SY58398706)
 3.0km E 80° Grey Mare Processional Way* Multiple Stone Rows / Avenue (SY585871)
 3.2km E 86° White Hill Tumulus* Round Barrow(s) (SY58688677)
 3.5km E 101° Bishops Limekiln Car Park* Standing Stone (Menhir) (SY589859)
 4.1km E 91° Hampton Down Multiple Stone Rows / Avenue (SY596865)
 4.1km E 91° Hampton Down* Stone Circle (SY596865)
 4.2km E 79° Valley of Stones circle* Stone Circle (SY59668738)
 4.4km ENE 73° Valley of Stones quarry* Ancient Mine, Quarry or other Industry (SY59708788)
 4.4km ENE 74° Valley of Stones polisher* Polissoir (SY59758778)
 4.5km NNE 33° Kingston Russell 2* Long Barrow (SY580904)
 4.6km NNE 32° Kingston Russell 1* Long Barrow (SY580905)
 4.6km NNE 32° Kingston Russell Stone 3* Standing Stone (Menhir) (SY580905)
 4.7km NNE 22° Long Bredy 2* Long Barrow (SY573909)
 4.8km E 100° Portesham Stone 9 Standing Stone (Menhir) (SY602857)
 4.8km NE 41° Pitcombe Down* Barrow Cemetery (SY587902)
 4.8km E 95° Portesham Stone 7 Standing Stone (Menhir) (SY603861)
 4.8km NNE 20° Long Bredy Bank Barrow* Long Barrow (SY57179115)
 4.8km NNE 21° Long Bredy Barrow Cemetery* Barrow Cemetery (SY5726491115)
 4.9km E 99° Portesham Stone 8 Standing Stone (Menhir) (SY603858)
 4.9km NNE 16° Martin's Down Round Barrows* Round Barrow(s) (SY569913)
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"Abbotsbury Castle" | Login/Create an Account | 3 News and Comments
  
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Re: Background information on Abbotsbury castle hillfort by TheCaptain on Sunday, 02 January 2005
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thanks Jim for this information and your notification of some corrections. Keep it coming.
[ Reply to This ]

Background information on Abbotsbury castle hillfort by JimChampion on Saturday, 01 January 2005
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The following is taken from the information sign at the Abbotsbury village car park...
The Ridgeway hills that stretch east-west, north of the village, provided a natural causeway for Neolithic man (4500-2000BC), bronze age man (2000-500BC) and iron age man (500BC-50AD). This Ridgeway track, apart from facilitating communication and trade also provided a perfect vantage point from which to scan the surrounding countryside for enemies - especially necessary in order to organise a defence should a sea-born attack threaten. There are at least 22 tumuli (most probably the burial mounds of local chieftains) still existent within Abbotsbury Parish.

The iron-age Hillfort known as Abbotsbury Castle was built on Wears Hill north-west of the village. This Hillfort would have been very important strategically in that the first sightings of an invasion could be notified to the other neighbouring hillforts. The Celtic tribe inhabiting this area at that time were known as the Durotriges.

The Roman occupation of this area dates from 43/44AD when Vespasian's 2nd Augustian Legion carried out a campaign in the region which led to the subjugation of the Durotriges tribe. It appears that the defenders of Abbotsbury Castle capitulated rather than resisted however, for there is no evidence to suggest a violent conclusion - but the Hillfort has yet to be excavated! Although there was no documented Roman occupation around Abbotsbury. with Durnovaria (Dorchester) so close, the Romans must have settled the area and there have been sufficient findings to suggest that this was so.

With thanks to Abbotsbury, digital cameras and Optical Character Recognition software!

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Re: View from Abbotsbury Castle by JimChampion on Saturday, 01 January 2005
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The trig-point at the top of the hillfort is 215 metres above sea-level. This makes it the highest point for quite some distance, and offers unrivalled views over the surrounding landscape. To the west is a hill called "The Knoll" which has several burial mounds. To the south-east is the village of Abbostbury and the Glastonbury Tor-like hill with St Catherine's chapel on the summit. To the north east is the Kingston Russell stone circle and the Grey Mare and her Colts barrow. There are also impressive views of Chesil beach and the Fleet stretching down to the Isle of Portland in the distance.
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