The six Cheshire hillforts on the Sandstone Ridge display a diversity of size, shape and complexity. They range from the relatively small site at Maiden Castle, Bickerton (area c.0.7 ha) to the large forts at Eddisbury and Beeston (areas over 3.5 ha). Their defences likewise vary greatly from the single bank on the eastern side of Woodhouse to the double bank and ditches at Eddisbury. The function of these monuments varied over time as well. They appear to have been used for settlement on both a permanent and seasonal basis at various times, as storage centres for the wider community and as seasonal gathering places, perhaps for trade, exchange and religious activities.
During the 1st millennium BC not all people in Cheshire lived in these hilltop sites. The majority of the population lived in small defended farmsteads or unenclosed settlements located on the valley slopes. Such sites rarely survive in an above ground form today but aerial photography has recently revealed the evidence of lowland farmsteads around the Mersey and Bollin valleys in north Cheshire, as well as the Dee and Weaver valleys. These farmsteads seem to have been engaged in a mixed economy with evidence for both arable and pastoral farming.
By the late Iron Age (100 BC) some hillforts had been abandoned and were no longer in use. It is unclear when the hillforts on the Sandstone Ridge were abandoned, although in theory they may have continued in use, albeit intermittently until the Romano-British period. However archaeological evidence of activity at this time is only available from Beeston and Eddisbury.
http://www.habitatsandhillforts.co.uk/SandstoneRidge/hillforts.htm
SHORT FILM 'Whats below Woodhouse Hillfort'
http://media.cheshire.gov.uk/habitats/hillforts.wmv
Archaeological Evaluation Work at Woodhouse, Frodsham (July 2009)
http://www.habitatsandhillforts.co.uk/SandstoneRidge/Excavationinterimreportwoodhouse.htm
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