A hillfort is a type of earthwork used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze Age or Iron Age. Some were used in the post-Roman period. The fortification usually follows the contours of a hill and consists of one or more lines of earthworks, with stockades or defensive walls, and external ditches. Hillforts developed in the Late Bronze and Early Iron Age, roughly the start of the first millennium BC, and were used in many Celtic areas of central and western Europe until the Roman conquest.
Oldbury Camp is the largest Iron Age hill fort in south-eastern England. It was built in the 1st century BC by Celtic British tribes on a hilltop west of Ightham, Kent, in a strategic location overlooking routes through the Kentish Weald. The fort comprises a bank and ditch enclosing an area of about 50 hectares, with entrances at the north-east and south ends. Wooden gates barred the entrances. Archaeological excavations carried out in the 1930s and 1980s found that the hill fort's interior had probably not been permanently occupied. It had been abandoned around 50 BC and the north-east gate had been burned down, possibly due to a Roman invasion. The wooded southern part of Oldbury Camp is now owned and managed by the National Trust and is open to the public.
Poundbury Hill is the site of a scheduled Prehistoric and Roman archaeological remains and includes evidence of a Neolithic settlement, a substantial Bronze Age occupation site and an Iron Age hillfort. There are also late Iron Age burials and a section of Roman aqueduct. On the eastern side is an earlier Romano-British farmstead; and an extensive later cemetery, belonging to the Roman town Durnovaria. Further buildings and enclosures of the 5th-8th centuries overlie the Roman cemetery. It is roughly rectangular and it is likely that it was designed to command views over the River Frome and the Frome valley to the north. The main entrance to the fort is on the eastern end. It overlooks the county town of Dorchester, Dorset, England.
Burledge Hill is on the southern edge of the village of Bishop Sutton, Somerset, England. It is the site of a Site of Special Scientific Interest and an univallate Iron Age hillfort.
Dolebury Warren is a 90.6 hectares biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and ancient monument near the villages of Churchill and Rowberrow in North Somerset, part of South West England. It is owned by the National Trust, who acquired the freehold in 1983, and managed by the Avon Wildlife Trust.
Ruborough Camp is an Iron Age hill fort on the Quantock Hills near Broomfield in Somerset, England. The name comes from Rugan beorh or Ruwan-beorge meaning Rough Hill. It is a Scheduled Ancient Monument and on the Heritage at Risk Register.
Castercliff is an Iron Age multivallate hillfort situated close to the towns of Nelson and Colne in Lancashire, Northern England.
Bats Castle is an Iron Age hillfort at the top of a 213 metres (699 ft) high hill in the parish of Carhampton south south west of Dunster in Somerset, England.
Kelsborrow Castle is an Iron Age hill fort in Cheshire, northern England. Hill forts were fortified hill-top settlements constructed across Britain during the Iron Age. It is one of only seven hill forts in the county of Cheshire and was probably in use for only a short time. In the 19th century, a bronze palstave was recovered from the site. It is protected as a Scheduled Ancient Monument.
Oakmere hill fort is an Iron Age hill fort, one of many large fortified settlements constructed across Britain during the Iron Age, but one of only seven in the county of Cheshire in northern England. It is protected as a Scheduled Ancient Monument. Despite being a low-lying site, Oakmere is still considered a hill fort.
Hascombe Hill or Hascombe Camp is the site of an Iron Age multivallate hill fort close to the village of Hascombe in Surrey, England.
Bussock Camp is the site of an Iron Age bivallate hillfort located in Berkshire, England. It has a double bank and ditch to the south and east, with only a single bank remaining the north and western sides. The entrance is to the north of the site and is believed to be original, and the site encloses approximately 11 acres.
Battlesbury Camp is the site of an Iron Age bivallate hill fort on Battlesbury Hill near the town of Warminster in Wiltshire, South West England. Excavations and surveys at the site have uncovered various finds and archaeological evidence.
Scratchbury Camp is the site of an Iron Age univallate hillfort on Scratchbury Hill, overlooking the Wylye valley about 1 km northeast of the village of Norton Bavant in Wiltshire, England. The fort covers an area of 37 acres (15 ha) and occupies the summit of the hill on the edge of Salisbury Plain, with its four-sided shape largely following the natural contours of the hill.
Fosbury Camp, is the site of an Iron Age bivallate hillfort located in Wiltshire. The site is oval in shape, and approximately 26 acres in area
Membury Camp, or Membury Fort, is the site of an Iron Age hill fort located on the borders of Wiltshire and Berkshire,. The site encompasses 14 acres, and is situated in the south-western corner of a small plateau. The circular earthworks are completely shrouded in trees and inside the walls it is mostly arable farmland. To the northeast, in the Berkshire segment, the camp is totally wooded by a small copse, Walls Copse, which covers a quarter of the site. To the north and east the adjoining ground is flat, but to the south and west it falls away steeply, providing a natural defence. The camp consists of a single ditch with banks on either side and encloses and area measuring 390m by 490m. A gap in the east with inturning flanks is probably an original entrance though it is mutilated and overgrown. Other gaps in the banks appear to be more modern. A possible hut circle is visible as a cropmark situated at the south end of the hill fort. The east side of the earthwork has been partly destroyed by the construction of a wartime airfield, RAF Membury. The site has not been excavated but a number of prehistoric finds have been found in the vicinity. It is a scheduled ancient monument no. 228970 There have been several collections of pottery found, in 1977, 1980 and 1987 Other significant finds have also included for flint artefacts from the mesolithic era, and flint tools from the neolithic era, prior to the Iron Age.
Kinver Edge Hillfort, is a univallate Iron Age hillfort with a massive rampart and outer ditch along the south-west and south-east sides, with natural defences on the remaining sides. The fort is located at the northern end of Kinver Edge, in the civil parish of Kinver, Staffordshire.
St Andrew's Castle was an artillery fort constructed by Henry VIII near Hamble-le-Rice, Hampshire, between 1542 and 1543. It formed part of the King's Device programme to protect against invasion from France and the Holy Roman Empire, and defended Southampton Water near the Solent. St Andrew's comprised a keep and a gun platform, protected by a moat. The castle was decommissioned in 1642 during the English Civil War and has been largely destroyed through coastal erosion.
Burnswark Hill, to the east of the A74(M) between Ecclefechan and Lockerbie in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, sits prominently in the landscape. Its rich history has been a consistent source of archaeological interpretation for generations. The most recent active archaeological research, undertaken by the Trimontium Trust, has furthered the understanding of the site narrative in respect of the apparent relationship between the local population and occupying Roman forces.
