Dowsborough Camp (or ''Danesborough'' or ''Dawesbury'') is an Iron Age hill fort on the Quantock Hills 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 ...

in Somerset, England. It has been designated as a Scheduled Monument. The fort and associated round barrow has been added to the Heritage at Risk Register due to vulnerability to vehicle damage and erosion. View north from Dowsborough over Holford

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 The Bristol Channel ( cy, Môr Hafren, literal translation: "Severn Sea") is a major inlet in the island of Great Britain, separating South Wales from Devon and Somerset in South West England. It extends from the lower estuary of the River Seve ...

, and east over the valley of the

River Parrett The River Parrett flows through the counties of Dorset and Somerset in South West England, from its source in the Thorney Mills springs in the hills around Chedington in Dorset. Flowing northwest through Somerset and the Somerset Levels to it ...

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). 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 Dead Woman's Ditch is an earthwork which has been scheduled as an ancient monument in Over Stowey, Somerset, England situated on the Quantock Hills. A linear earthwork consisting of a bank with a ditch along the west side running for approxima ...

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'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, Cannington (a possible site of the Battle of Cynwit) 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.''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 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

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