Dowsborough: Difference between revisions
Content deleted Content added
add background para re hillforts + subheads |
added Category:Quantock Hills using HotCat |
||
| (36 intermediate revisions by 26 users not shown) | |||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
{{Short description|Hillfort in Somerset}} |
|||
| ⚫ | |||
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} |
|||
| ⚫ | |||
| ⚫ | |||
| Photo = |
|||
| ⚫ | |||
| ⚫ | |||
|native_name = |
|||
| Country = [[England]] |
|||
|alternate_name = |
|||
| ⚫ | |||
|image = Dowsborough seen from just north of Nether Stowey.jpg |
|||
| Nearest Town = |
|||
|caption = Seen from just north of Nether Stowey. |
|||
|alt = |
|||
| Grid_ref_UK = ST160391 |
|||
|location = near [[Nether Stowey]] |
|||
| Grid_ref_Ireland = |
|||
| ⚫ | |||
|coordinates = {{coord|51|8|43.56|N|3|12|5.42|W|type:landmark|display=inline,title}} |
|||
| Condition = 3 |
|||
|type = [[Hill fort]] |
|||
| Access = 3 |
|||
| ⚫ | |||
| ⚫ | |||
|public_access = |
|||
}} |
|||
|condition = some damage |
|||
'''Dowsborough Camp''' (or ''Danesborough'' or ''Dawesbury'') is an [[Iron Age]] [[hill fort]] on the [[Quantock Hills]] near [[Nether Stowey]] in [[Somerset]], England. |
|||
|website = |
|||
|designation1=Scheduled monument|designation1_offname=Dowsborough hillfort and associated round barrow|designation1_date=19 December 1929|designation1_number=1010494}} |
|||
<!-- the previous displayed OS Grid Ref was ST160391 : Note that while the substituted templates currently do not have a field for UK-only and Irish-only Ordnance Survey grid numbers, readers may obtain these through the GeoHack tool by clicking on the infobox's existing linked coordinates --> |
|||
'''Dowsborough Camp''' (or ''Danesborough'' or ''Dawesbury'') is an [[Iron Age]] [[hill fort]] on the [[Quantock Hills]] near [[Nether Stowey]] in [[Somerset]], England. It has been designated as a [[Scheduled monument|Scheduled Monument]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Dowsborough hillfort and associated round barrow, Holford - 1010494 {{!}} Historic England |url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1010494 |access-date=2022-06-09 |website=historicengland.org.uk |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Dowsborough Camp|url=http://www.pastscape.org.uk/hob.aspx?hob_id=189456|work=National Monuments Record|publisher=[[English Heritage]]|accessdate=23 March 2011}}</ref> The fort and associated round barrow has been added to the [[Heritage at Risk Register]] due to vulnerability to vehicle damage and erosion.<ref>{{cite web|title=Dowsborough hillfort and associated round barrow, Holford — West Somerset|url=http://risk.english-heritage.org.uk/register.aspx?id=33273|work=Heritage at Risk|publisher=English Heritage|accessdate=20 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131022204028/http://risk.english-heritage.org.uk/register.aspx?id=33273|archive-date=22 October 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> |
|||
==Background== |
|||
{{see|Hill fort}} |
|||
Hill forts developed in the Late Bronze and Early Iron Age, roughly the start of the [[1st millennium BC|first millennium BC]].<ref>{{citation |first1=Andrew |last1=Payne |first2=Mark |last2=Corney |first3=Barry |last3=Cunliffe |title=The Wessex Hillforts Project: Extensive Survey of Hillfort Interiors in Central Southern England |publisher=English Heritage |year=2007 |isbn=9781873592854 |url=http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/ConWebDoc.10744 | page=1}}</ref> The reason for their emergence in Britain, and their purpose, has been a subject of debate. It has been argued that they could have been military sites constructed in response to invasion from continental Europe, sites built by invaders, or a military reaction to social tensions caused by an increasing population and consequent pressure on agriculture. The dominant view since the 1960s has been that the increasing use of iron led to social changes in Britain. Deposits of iron ore were located in different places to the tin and copper ore necessary to make bronze, and as a result trading patterns shifted and the old elites lost their economic and social status. Power passed into the hands of a new group of people.<ref>{{citation |last=Sharples |first=Niall M |title=English Heritage Book of Maiden Castle |publisher=B. T. Batsford |year=1991 |location=London |isbn=0-7134-6083-0 | pages=71-72}}</ref> Archaeologist [[Barry Cunliffe]] believes that population increase still played a role and has stated "[the forts] provided defensive possibilities for the community at those times when the stress [of an increasing population] burst out into open warfare. But I wouldn't see them as having been built because there was a state of war. They would be functional as defensive strongholds when there were tensions and undoubtedly some of them were attacked and destroyed, but this was not the only, or even the most significant, factor in their construction".<ref>{{citation |url=http://www.channel4.com/history/microsites/T/timeteam/2008/swords/swords-found.html |title=Time Team: Swords, skulls and strongholds |publisher=[[Channel 4]] |date=2008-05-19 |accessdate=16 September 2009}}</ref> |
|||
[[File:View north from Dowsborough over Holford.jpg|thumb|right|220px|View north from the summit towards the Bristol Channel, the village of Holford is in view.]] |
|||
| ⚫ | |||
| ⚫ | |||
| ⚫ | |||
| ⚫ | |||
| ⚫ | The fort has an oval shape, with a single rampart and ditch (''univallate'') following the contours of the hill top, enclosing an area of 2.7 [[ |
||
| ⚫ | |||
| ⚫ | |||
| ⚫ | |||
[[File:Dowsborough Digital Terrain Model.jpg|thumb|3D view of the digital terrain model]] |
|||
| ⚫ | The fort has an oval shape, with a single rampart and ditch (''[[univallate]]'') following the contours of the hill top, enclosing an area of 6¾ acres (2.7 hectares).<ref name="her-dowsboroughcastle">{{cite web|title=Dowsborough hillfort, Holford|url=http://www.somersetheritage.org.uk/record/33306|work=Somerset Historic Environment Record|publisher=[[Somerset County Council]]|accessdate=28 December 2010}}</ref> The main entrance is to the east, towards [[Nether Stowey]], with a simpler opening to the north-west, aligned with a ridgeway leading down to Holford. The Lady's Fountain springs are in the [[valley|combe]] to the west. A [[Mountain pass|col]] |
||
| ⚫ | to the south connects the hill to the main Stowey ridge, where a linear earthwork known as [[Dead Woman's Ditch]] cuts across the spur. This additional rampart would have provided an extra line of defence against attack from the main Quantock ridge to the west, and it could have been a tribal boundary. |
||
==Saxon era== |
==Saxon era== |
||
| ⚫ | In Saxon times, [[King Alfred]]'s military road, the [[Herepath]], ran up from [[Combwich]], [[Cannington, Somerset|Cannington]] (a possible site of the [[Battle of Cynwit]]) and [[Over Stowey]], along the present course of the Stowey road, across Dead Woman's Ditch to Crowcombe Park Gate, south along the main ridge of the Quantocks to Triscombe Stone, then west across the valley to the [[Brendon Hills]] and [[Exmoor]].<ref name="Gres">''Dumnonia and the Valley of the Parret'', Rev. W.H.P. Greswell (1922)</ref> The road connected a series of forts and lookout posts, which allowed Alfred's armies to move along the coast to cover [[Viking]] movements at sea and forestall any raids ashore.<ref>{{cite book|last=Waite|first=Vincent|title=Portrait of the Quantocks|year=1969|publisher=Robert Hale|location=London|isbn=0709111584|page=23}}</ref> The path from Dowsborough to the Herepath is called ''Great Bear Path'', and this is taken to be a corruption of ''Great Herepath'', which suggests that Dowsborough could have been a Saxon lookout over the [[Bristol Channel]]. |
||
| ⚫ | |||
| ⚫ | In Saxon times, [[King Alfred |
||
| ⚫ | |||
* [[Ruborough]] |
* [[Ruborough]] |
||
* [[Trendle Ring]] |
* [[Trendle Ring]] |
||
* [[Plainsfield Camp]] |
* [[Plainsfield Camp]] |
||
* [[Herepath]] |
* [[Herepath]] |
||
* [[List of hillforts and ancient settlements in Somerset]] |
|||
* [[Hillforts in Britain]] |
|||
* [[Hillfort#Great Britain|Hillfort]] |
|||
==References== |
==References== |
||
{{reflist}} |
{{reflist}} |
||
* ''Dumnonia and the Valley of the Parret'', Rev. W.H.P. Greswell (1922) |
|||
==Further reading== |
|||
* ''A Field Guide to Somerset Archaeology'', Lesley and Roy Adkins (1992) ISBN |
* ''A Field Guide to Somerset Archaeology'', Lesley and Roy Adkins (1992) {{ISBN|0-946159-94-7}} |
||
| ⚫ | |||
==External links== |
|||
| ⚫ | |||
| ⚫ | |||
[[Category:Hill forts in Somerset]] |
[[Category:Hill forts in Somerset]] |
||
[[Category:Scheduled |
[[Category:Scheduled monuments in West Somerset]] |
||
[[Category:Structures on the Heritage at Risk register in Somerset]] |
|||
[[Category:Quantock Hills]] |
|||
Latest revision as of 14:47, 6 February 2024
 Seen from just north of Nether Stowey. | |
| Standort | near Nether Stowey |
|---|---|
| Region | Somerset, England |
| Coordinates | 51°8′43.56″N 3°12′5.42″W / 51.1454333°N 3.2015056°W |
| Typ | Hill fort |
| History | |
| Periods | Iron Age |
| Site notes | |
| Condition | some damage |
| Official name | Dowsborough hillfort and associated round barrow |
| Designated | 19 December 1929 |
| Reference no. | 1010494 |
Dowsborough Camp (or Danesborough or Dawesbury) is an Iron Age hill fort on the Quantock Hills near Nether Stowey in Somerset, England. It has been designated as a Scheduled Monument.[1][2] The fort and associated round barrow has been added to the Heritage at Risk Register due to vulnerability to vehicle damage and erosion.[3]
Situation
[edit]The site is at a height of 1115' (340 metres) on an easterly spur from the main Quantock ridge, with views north to the Bristol Channel, and east over the valley of the River Parrett.
The fort has an oval shape, with a single rampart and ditch (univallate) following the contours of the hill top, enclosing an area of 6¾ acres (2.7 hectares).[4] The main entrance is to the east, towards Nether Stowey, with a simpler opening to the north-west, aligned with a ridgeway leading down to Holford. The Lady's Fountain springs are in the combe to the west. A col to the south connects the hill to the main Stowey ridge, where a linear earthwork known as Dead Woman's Ditch cuts across the spur. This additional rampart would have provided an extra line of defence against attack from the main Quantock ridge to the west, and it could have been a tribal boundary.
Saxon era
[edit]In Saxon times, King Alfred's military road, the Herepath, ran up from Combwich, Cannington (a possible site of the Battle of Cynwit) and Over Stowey, along the present course of the Stowey road, across Dead Woman's Ditch to Crowcombe Park Gate, south along the main ridge of the Quantocks to Triscombe Stone, then west across the valley to the Brendon Hills and Exmoor.[5] The road connected a series of forts and lookout posts, which allowed Alfred's armies to move along the coast to cover Viking movements at sea and forestall any raids ashore.[6] The path from Dowsborough to the Herepath is called Great Bear Path, and this is taken to be a corruption of Great Herepath, which suggests that Dowsborough could have been a Saxon lookout over the Bristol Channel.
See also
[edit]- Ruborough
- Trendle Ring
- Plainsfield Camp
- Herepath
- List of hillforts and ancient settlements in Somerset
- Hillforts in Britain
- Hillfort
References
[edit]- ^ "Dowsborough hillfort and associated round barrow, Holford - 1010494 | Historic England". historicengland.org.uk. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
- ^ "Dowsborough Camp". National Monuments Record. English Heritage. Retrieved 23 March 2011.
- ^ "Dowsborough hillfort and associated round barrow, Holford — West Somerset". Heritage at Risk. English Heritage. Archived from the original on 22 October 2013. Retrieved 20 October 2013.
- ^ "Dowsborough hillfort, Holford". Somerset Historic Environment Record. Somerset County Council. Retrieved 28 December 2010.
- ^ Dumnonia and the Valley of the Parret, Rev. W.H.P. Greswell (1922)
- ^ Waite, Vincent (1969). Portrait of the Quantocks. London: Robert Hale. p. 23. ISBN 0709111584.
Further reading
[edit]- A Field Guide to Somerset Archaeology, Lesley and Roy Adkins (1992) ISBN 0-946159-94-7
External links
[edit]- Somerset Historic Environment Record Dowsborough Camp (Site no. 33306)
- "Dowsborough". Megalithic Portal.