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<< Our Photo Pages >> Bathampton Camp - Hillfort in England in Somerset

Submitted by 4clydesdale7 on Monday, 16 July 2012  Page Views: 8309

Iron Age and Later PrehistorySite Name: Bathampton Camp
Country: England
NOTE: This site is 0.8 km away from the location you searched for.

County: Somerset Type: Hillfort
Nearest Town: Bath  Nearest Village: Claverton
Map Ref: ST77456502
Latitude: 51.383774N  Longitude: 2.325423W
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
3 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.
3 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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4clydesdale7 visited on 15th Jul 2012 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 4 Access: 3 Quite a large area suggests this was built to hold stock - like Minchinhampton

Bathampton Camp
Bathampton Camp submitted by 4clydesdale7 : The Northwestern Bank with part of Bath Golf Course in the foreground - watch out for small fast flying white objects! (Vote or comment on this photo)
This early univallate Iron Age Hillfort of some 80 acres, as often happens when the archaeologists are bewildered, has been the subject of much debate over the last two hundred years - the camp is essentially rectangular, orientated East to West and is bordered on the West North and East sides by the meandering River Avon - just North of the river stands the famous Solsbury Hill - to the east the famous Bath Stone quarries have 'eaten' into the camp -

Theories about the area abound - early thinking suggested the area was a stock enclosure (a theory often applied in Gloucestershire to the North - eg Minchinhampton and Gotherington Camp) - then it was suggested that some of the earthworks formed part of the Wansdyke (a view promulgated by Edwardian pundits but now almost discarded) - it has been suggested that Bathampton Down is the location of the Battle of Mons Badonicus at which, legend has it, King Arthur defeated the Saxons (as with all such battles several other sites have the same claim) - it is just as well therefore that the site has Scheduled Ancient Monument status -

The area has been the subject of three major excavations in 1904/5, 1952/4 and 1965/7 - the latter as an emergency prior to the building of the University of Bath just to the south - the vast acreage contains at least four Bronze Age Round Barrows, a Roman Villa, a Celtic Field System, an old Warren complete with pillow mounds and an 18th/19th century racecourse - a veritable cornucopia with a modern twist - there are rumours of a Stone Circle (not unusual for Somerset)

More modern development includes a Sham Castle (folly), a golf course, the American Museum and the aforementioned University

Mentioned in:-
(a) pastscape: Bath and NE Somerset: Bathampton: 203244
(b) Proceedings of the Bristol & Gloucestershire Archaeological Society 1967 Vol 86 p42/59 - GJ Wainwright
(c) The Mystery of Wansdyke by Albany and Major 1923
(d) University of Bristol Spelaeological Socety 1957/8 Vol 8 p110

Oh! and by the way - the views are pretty good too! (but not quite as good as Solsbury Hill)


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Bathampton Camp
Bathampton Camp submitted by Bladup : Bathampton Camp, the bank and ditch on the western side of the fort. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Bathampton Camp
Bathampton Camp submitted by camperman : The precipitous slopes to the east of the Camp overlooking the Avon valley. The area has been quarried for the famous Bath Stone which is evident along these eastern slopes. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Bathampton Camp
Bathampton Camp submitted by camperman : Bank and ditch on the south eastern section of the camp, now heavily wooded adjacent to the golf course. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Bathampton Camp
Bathampton Camp submitted by camperman : The bank and ditch evident on the western side of the Camp, now part of the golf course. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Bathampton Camp
Bathampton Camp submitted by camperman : Bathampton Camp viewed from the south, the extent of the earthworks again denoted by the edge of the tree line. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Bathampton Camp
Bathampton Camp submitted by camperman : Aerial view of Bathampton Camp from the east. The line of earthworks are denoted by the ring of woodland.

Bathampton Camp
Bathampton Camp submitted by Bladup : Bathampton Camp, the bank and ditch on the western side of the fort.

Bathampton Camp
Bathampton Camp submitted by Bladup

Bathampton Camp
Bathampton Camp submitted by Bladup

Bathampton Camp
Bathampton Camp submitted by Bladup : Bathampton Camp, the bank and ditch on the north western side of the fort.

Bathampton Camp
Bathampton Camp submitted by Bladup : Bathampton Camp, the bank on the north western side of the fort.

Bathampton Camp
Bathampton Camp submitted by Bladup : Bathampton Camp, the bank on the southern side of the fort.

Bathampton Camp
Bathampton Camp submitted by Bladup : Bathampton Camp, the bank on the Southern side of the fort.

Bathampton Camp
Bathampton Camp submitted by Bladup : Bathampton Camp, this big cave on the eastern side of the fort had been recently lived in!!!

Bathampton Camp
Bathampton Camp submitted by Bladup : Bathampton Camp, another cave on the eastern side of the fort.

Bathampton Camp
Bathampton Camp submitted by Bladup : Bathampton Camp, a cave on the eastern side of the fort.

Bathampton Camp
Bathampton Camp submitted by Bladup : Bathampton Camp, the bank on the south side of the fort.

Bathampton Camp
Bathampton Camp submitted by Bladup : Bathampton Camp, rock shelter at ST767646.

Bathampton Camp
Bathampton Camp submitted by Bladup : Bathampton Camp, the smaller north west barrow at ST76696465. As you can see some animal (fox?) likes to visit this barrow.

Bathampton Camp
Bathampton Camp submitted by Bladup : Bathampton Camp, the south east barrow at ST76766460.

Bathampton Camp
Bathampton Camp submitted by 4clydesdale7 : The Northern Bank looking East towards the Bath Stone Quarries

Bathampton Camp
Bathampton Camp submitted by 4clydesdale7 : The West Bank and Ditch once rumoured to be part of Wansdyke - looking South

Bathampton Camp
Bathampton Camp submitted by 4clydesdale7 : Earthworks in the SW corner

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Nearby sites listing. In the following links * = Image available
 307m NW 306° Bathampton* Standing Stones (ST772652)
 848m W 261° Bathampton Round Barrow 2* Round Barrow(s) (ST76616489)
 1.7km NW 304° Kensington Meadows Holed Megalith Holed Stone
 2.4km W 269° Bath Postal Museum* Museum (ST7504564998)
 2.4km W 263° Sacred Spring, Bath* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (ST7505364726)
 2.9km SE 146° Conkwell well* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (ST791626)
 3.0km SE 131° Jug's Grave* Round Barrow(s) (ST79696305)
 3.0km ENE 77° Monk's Conduit (Monkton Farleigh)* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (ST8036265692)
 3.0km SE 138° Conkwell stone circle* Stone Circle (ST79456280)
 3.0km NNW 349° Solsbury Hill* Hillfort (ST76876797)
 3.5km NW 311° St Mary's Well (Charlcombe)* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (ST748673)
 3.8km S 171° Shingle Bell* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (ST780613)
 5.1km SSE 150° Winsley Chambered Tomb (ST800606)
 5.2km SE 145° Turleigh Trows* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (ST8044960725)
 5.4km S 186° Hill Farm Barrow (Somerset) Round Barrow(s) (ST76855969)
 5.4km NNE 23° Three Shires Stones* Modern Stone Circle etc (ST7961070021)
 5.8km WNW 303° St Alphages Well* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (ST72606815)
 5.8km SSW 193° The Giants Graves Cist (ST761594)
 5.8km S 183° Beacon Barrow (Somerset) Round Barrow(s) (ST77095920)
 6.1km NE 56° Becket's Well (Box) Holy Well or Sacred Spring (ST825684)
 6.1km NE 52° Box Rock Circus* Modern Stone Circle etc (ST823687)
 6.4km SE 131° Ladywell (Bradford on Avon)* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (ST823608)
 6.4km SE 129° St Laurence's Church (Bradford on Avon)* Early Christian Sculptured Stone (ST8241960914)
 6.8km ENE 61° Hazelbury Manor Menhirs* Modern Stone Circle etc (ST83476830)
 6.9km NW 322° Cold Ashton Round Barrows* Round Barrow(s) (ST73257045)
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