Dowsborough Camp (or ''Danesborough'' or ''Dawesbury'') 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 mostl ...

hill fort 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 ...

on the

Quantock Hills The Quantock Hills west of Bridgwater in Somerset, England, consist of heathland, oak woodlands, ancient parklands and agricultural land. They were England's first Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, designated in 1956. Natural England have desi ...

near

Nether Stowey Nether Stowey is a large village in the Sedgemoor district of Somerset, South West England. It sits in the foothills of the Quantock Hills (England's first Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty), just below Over Stowey. The parish of Nether Stowey ...

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

, England. It has been designated as 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 ...

. The fort and associated round barrow has been added to the

Heritage at Risk Register An annual ''Heritage at Risk Register'' is published by Historic England. The survey is used by national and local government, a wide range of individuals and heritage groups to establish the extent of risk and to help assess priorities for acti ...

due to vulnerability to vehicle damage and erosion. View north from Dowsborough over Holford

Situation

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. Dowsborough Digital Terrain Model

The fort has an oval shape, with a single rampart and ditch (''

univallate 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 ...

'') following the contours of the hill top, enclosing an area of 6¾ acres (2.7 hectares). The main entrance is to the east, towards

, 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 A combe (; also spelled coombe or coomb and, in place names, comb) can refer either to a steep, narrow valley, or to a small valley or large hollow on the side of a hill; in any case, it is often understood simply to mean a small valley through wh ...

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

In Saxon times,

King Alfred Alfred the Great (alt. Ælfred 848/849 – 26 October 899) was King of the West Saxons from 871 to 886, and King of the Anglo-Saxons from 886 until his death in 899. He was the youngest son of King Æthelwulf and his first wife Osburh, who ...

's military road, the

Herepath A herepath or herewag is a military road (literally, an army path) in England, typically dating from the ninth century AD. This was a time of war between the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of southern England and Viking invaders from Denmark. The Engli ...

, ran up from

Combwich Combwich ( ) is a village in the parish of Otterhampton within the Sedgemoor district of Somerset, between Bridgwater and the Steart Peninsula. The village lies on Combwich Reach as the River Parrett flows to the sea and was the site of an anc ...

, Cannington (a possible site of the

Battle of Cynwit The Battle of Cynwit, was a battle between West Saxons and Vikings in 878 at a fort which Asser calls ''Cynwit''. The location of the battle is not known for sure but probably was at Countisbury Hill, near Countisbury, Devon. Prelude The Viking ...

) and

Over Stowey Over may refer to: Places *Over, Cambridgeshire, England *Over, Cheshire, England *Over, South Gloucestershire, England * Over, Tewkesbury, near Gloucester, England ** Over Bridge *Over, Seevetal Over is a village in the municipality of Seevet ...

, 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 The Brendon Hills are a range of hills in west Somerset, England. The hills merge level into the eastern side of Exmoor and are included within the Exmoor National Park. The highest point of the range is Lype Hill at above sea level with a secon ...

and

Exmoor Exmoor is loosely defined as an area of hilly open moorland in west Somerset and north Devon in South West England. It is named after the River Exe, the source of which is situated in the centre of the area, two miles north-west of Simonsbath ...

.''Dumnonia and the Valley of the Parret'', Rev. W.H.P. Greswell (1922) The road connected a series of forts and lookout posts, which allowed Alfred's armies to move along the coast to cover

Viking Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

movements at sea and forestall any raids ashore. 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.

References

* ''Dumnonia and the Valley of the Parret'', Rev. W.H.P. Greswell (1922) * ''A Field Guide to Somerset Archaeology'', Lesley and Roy Adkins (1992) * Somerset Historic Environment Recor
Dowsborough Camp
(Site no. 33306) * {{Megalithic Portal, 4953 Hill forts in Somerset Scheduled monuments in West Somerset Structures on the Heritage at Risk register in Somerset

Situation

Saxon era

See also

References