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The "hillfort" is a misnomer, as there is no evidence of any fortifications and the surrounding ditch - so narrow you could step across it - was likely not for defensive purposes. Unlike many Iron Age forts, there is no evidence of an earth wall on the inside of the ditch, to impede an attack and aid the defenders.
With a population now estimated by the archaeological team at perhaps at high as 4,000, it would have simply been too big and too undefendable to have been primarily militaristic. (It is also technically on a ridge, not a hill.) Most likely, this was a generalized settlement and the ditch was more to keep animals in or out. Archaeologists are now actively considering if it was some kind of trading center, as a number of the finds contain rocks and materials from all over the country.
It is also worth noting that the Stone Age settlement is within the same perimiter as the Iron Age one and that Roman artifacts indicative of individuals with high status have likewise been found there. The existing church, also within the perimiter of the ditch, has a stone font and a wooden pulpit, both of which date to the 7th or 8th centuries. At the far end of the ridge, but possibly still within the permiter ditch (which has still not been completely mapped out) is Mellor Hall, which is said to be built on the ruins of a Norman building of some size. None of these later structures are defensive, but many can be linked to trade across the Pennines and from the Mersey Basin.
One small addendum needs to be made - the archaeological unit is from the University of Manchester, but not from the archaeological department.
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