Berth Hill is 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 mostly appl ...
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 ...
in
Staffordshire
Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...
, England, about south-west of
Newcastle-under-Lyme
Newcastle-under-Lyme ( RP: , ) is a market town and the administrative centre of the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire, England. The 2011 census population of the town was 75,082, whilst the wider borough had a population of 1 ...
, and near the village of
Maer. It is a
scheduled monument
In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change.
The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...
.
Other forms of its name have been ''Bryth'', ''Bruff'' and ''Burgh'' Hill.
Description
The fort is on a
sandstone
Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks.
Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...
outcrop at the south-east edge of Maer Hills. The defences, following the contours of the hill, have an irregular shape. Their length is north-west to south-east, and the width is , enclosing an area of about .
[
The rampart, of earth and stone, is up to wide and above the interior. In the north, the slope is less steep than elsewhere, and there is a second rampart outside this, width . There are two original entrances: an inturned entrance in the south-west, and an entrance at the north end of the east defences. There is a spring on the eastern side of the interior.][
]
Excavations
Results of excavations in 1966 and 1975 have been interpreted as showing an early period of occupation, followed by a long interval of disuse (suggested by ditches containing silt and parts of collapsed rampart), and later a hurried reconstruction of the defences.[
]
Nineteenth-century changes
Josiah Wedgwood II
Josiah Wedgwood II (3 April 1769 – 12 July 1843), the son of the English potter Josiah Wedgwood, continued his father's firm and was a Member of Parliament (MP) for Stoke-upon-Trent from 1832 to 1835. He was an abolitionist, and detested slav ...
, owner of Maer Hall file:Maer Hall - geograph.org.uk - 207996.jpg, upright=1.35, Maer Hall
Maer Hall is a large Grade II listed 17th-century country house in Maer, Staffordshire.
The large stone-built country house and estate of Maer Hall dominates the village of Mae ...
in the early 19th century, built an aqueduct to pipe water from the spring to the Hall and the village of Maer. This, with associated damage to the inner rampart, remains visible on the east side of the hill.[
Part of the site, mainly in the north and east, was adapted in the 19th century to be an ornamental landscape: there are garden walks, and a zig-zag path leading to a small platform, thought to be a viewing area.][
]
See also
* Hillforts in Britain Hillforts in Britain refers to the various hillforts within the island of Great Britain. Although the earliest such constructs fitting this description come from the Neolithic British Isles, with a few also dating to later Bronze Age Britain, Briti ...
References
{{Iron Age hillforts in England
Hill forts in Staffordshire
Scheduled monuments in Staffordshire
Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme