The Ramparts
The earthworks seen today are the end result of many centuries of modification.
Varley's excavations showed that the complex defensive ramparts that surround the hillfort were not built at the same time and that there were four distinct phases in their development.
These banks and ditches would have been formidable obstacles to any attacker, but they may also have been built for the purposes of display, with their dramatic appearance symbolising the dominance and power of the hillfort and its inhabitants.
There were four main phases of construction:
Period 1. The two innermost ramparts were the first to be built, in the early Iron Age. They enclosed the whole hilltop and consisted of a clay core, supported by timber and boulders, and covered with earth, known as a box rampart. In several places, these boulders can be seen protruding from the ramparts.
Period 2. Next, probably in the middle Iron Age, there was a period of reorganisation in the fort. The existing ramparts were repaired and enlarged, perhaps in anticipation of an attack. In addition, a third rampart was added to the western half of the hillfort.
Period 3. Later, the third rampart was massively reconstructed and the complex of pits near the western entrance was created.
Period 4. Finally, two enormous ramparts were added to the fort. These later ramparts were built in a continual slope, or 'glacis', up to the crest of the rampart.
Email this to a friend