Barbury Castle is a scheduled

hillfort 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-Roma ...

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

, England. It is one of several such forts found along the ancient Ridgeway route. The site, which lies within the Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, has been managed as a country park by Swindon Borough Council since 1971. It is situated on Barbury Hill, a local vantage point, which, under ideal weather conditions, commands a view across to the Cotswolds and the

River Severn , name_etymology = , image = SevernFromCastleCB.JPG , image_size = 288 , image_caption = The river seen from Shrewsbury Castle , map = RiverSevernMap.jpg , map_size = 288 , map_c ...

. It has two deep defensive ditches and ramparts. The Old Ridgeway runs close by and the modern Ridgeway crosses through the castle. In the surrounding area are to be found round barrows, Celtic field systems and 18th-19th century flint workings.

History

The site was first occupied some 2,500 years ago, and was then in use during the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

occupation of the area. Archaeological investigations at Barbury have shown evidence of a number of buildings, indicating a village or military garrison at this time. In the 6th century the site became part of the Saxon kingdom of

Wessex la, Regnum Occidentalium Saxonum , conventional_long_name = Kingdom of the West Saxons , common_name = Wessex , image_map = Southern British Isles 9th century.svg , map_caption = S ...

, following the defeat of the Romano-British at the Battle of Beranburgh, Beran Byrig or Beranbyrig in AD 556, the site of which is just north of the castle. Centuries later the area was a favourite haunt of the 19th-century writer

Richard Jefferies John Richard Jefferies (6 November 1848 – 14 August 1887) was an English nature writer, noted for his depiction of English rural life in essays, books of natural history, and novels. His childhood on a small Wiltshire farm had a great influ ...

, who lived an hour's walk away at Coate. The site was designated as a scheduled monument in 1882. In World War II the War Ministry appropriated the site for US Army Air Force anti-aircraft guns; the bases for these are apparently visible as hollows around the edge of the fort interior.The Modern Antiquarian: Barbury Castle
/ref> In 1996, a geophysical survey revealed traces of 40

hut circle In archaeology, a hut circle is a circular or oval depression in the ground which may or may not have a low stone wall around it that used to be the foundation of a round house. The superstructure of such a house would have been made of timber an ...

s inside the castle. A reconstruction of an

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostl ...

roundhouse was built on the site in 2006 but was destroyed by vandals in October 2008. In 2009, English Heritage (now

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked w ...

) carried out a National Mapping Programme project which comprised an interpretation, transcription and analysis of all archaeological features visible on aerial photographs in the environs of Barbury Castle.

Location

Barbury Castle is at , about south of Swindon and the M4, on the northern edge of the Marlborough Downs within the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Other than a couple of nearby farms, there is no current settlement near the site. By road the site can only be approached by a single road ascending the scarp slope of the downs from midway along the B4005 between

Wroughton Wroughton is a large village and civil parish in northeast Wiltshire, England. It is part of the Borough of Swindon and lies along the A4361 between Swindon and Avebury; the road into Swindon crosses the M4 motorway between junctions 15 ...

and

Chiseldon Chiseldon is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Swindon, Wiltshire, England. It takes its name from the Old English cisel dene, or gravel valley, being noted in the Domesday Book as ''Chiseldene''. The village lies on the edge of ...

. More options are available by foot or horseback, including the Ridgeway, which runs east–west along the edge of the downs, and a byway south across the downs to Marlborough.

Gallery

Barbury Hill Iron Age Fort.jpg, alt=Barbury Castle Aerial View, Barbury Castle, aerial view Barbury Castle Aerial View.jpg, alt=Barbury Castle Aerial View, Barbury Castle Aerial View (2).jpg, alt=Barbury Castle Aerial View, Barbury Castle looking North, over Swindon.JPG, Looking northwards over Swindon Barbury castle looking West.JPG, Looking westwards towards the River Severn Barbury Castle - Iron Age house building.JPG, The Iron Age house under construction, July 2006 Barbury Castle - Iron Age house - plans.JPG, Plans of the Iron Age house

References

External links

Swindon Borough Council web page on Barbury Castle
archived in 2013 {{Authority control Archaeological sites in Wiltshire Country parks in Wiltshire Former populated places in Wiltshire Hill forts in Wiltshire Iron Age sites in England Scheduled monuments in Wiltshire

History

Location

Gallery

See also

References

External links