Dudsbury Camp (or Dudsbury Rings) is one of a series of

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 ...

earthworks in

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area of , ...

, starting from

Hambledon Hill Hambledon Hill is a prehistoric hill fort in Dorset, England, situated in the Blackmore Vale five miles northwest of Blandford Forum. The hill itself is a chalk outcrop, on the southwestern corner of Cranborne Chase, separated from the Dorset ...

, and including

Hod Hill Hod Hill (or Hodd Hill) is a large hill fort in the Blackmore Vale, north-west of Blandford Forum, Dorset, England. The fort sits on a chalk hill of the same name that lies between the adjacent Dorset Downs and Cranborne Chase. The hill fort ...

Spetisbury Spetisbury () is a village and civil parish in north Dorset, England, situated on the River Stour and the A350 road, southeast of Blandford Forum. In the 2011 census the civil parish had 224 households and a population of 555. Spetisbury vil ...

Rings,

Buzbury Rings Buzbury Rings is an Iron Age hillfort about east of Blandford Forum and northwest of the village of Tarrant Keyneston, in Dorset, England. It is a Scheduled Ancient Monument. Description The site is on a hill on Keynston Down. There is an in ...

Badbury Rings Badbury Rings is an Iron Age hill fort and Scheduled Monument in east Dorset, England. It was in the territory of the Durotriges. In the Roman era a temple was located immediately west of the fort, and there was a Romano-British town known as ''Vi ...

and Dudsbury Camp. The Iron Age port at

Hengistbury Head Hengistbury Head (), formerly also called Christchurch Head, is a headland jutting into the English Channel between Bournemouth and Mudeford in the English county of Dorset. It is a site of international importance in terms of its archaeology ...

forms a final Iron Age monument in this small chain of sites. The fort is located near the village of

West Parley West Parley is a village and civil parish in south-east Dorset, England, situated on the River Stour between Bournemouth and Ferndown and off of the B3073 road. The parish of West Parley covers an area of . It is also about to the closest majo ...

Name

Dudsbury takes its name from a man called Duds or Dudd, a 6th-century Saxon. Domesday records that ''"Azelin holds Dodsberie of Waleran. Godwin held it in King Edward's time and it was taxed for one hide. There is land to plough which is there, with four bordars, and seven acres of meadow and six of wood, pasture half a league long and five quarterns broad. It was and is worth 20s."''

Description

Dudsbury is an

hillfort situated on the north bank of the River Stour. The defences enclose a semicircular area of about 3 hectares and consist of double ramparts and ditch on the west, north and east sides, with a steep slope to the river on the south side. Much of the outer rampart and ditch has been obliterated or severely damaged. The best preserved portion lies near the southwest corner where the inner rampart stands 1.5 metres above the interior and 4 metres above the bottom of the outer ditch. The outer rampart there rises over 5 metres above the bottom of the ditch. There are four entrances to the hillfort, but probably only the west entrance, and possibly the south entrance, are original. Limited excavations were conducted by

Heywood Sumner George Heywood Maunoir Sumner (1853–1940) was originally an English painter, illustrator and craftsman, closely involved with the Arts and Crafts movement and the late-Victorian London art world. In his mid-forties he relocated to Cuckoo Hill, ...

in 1921, but little was found except for some Iron Age pottery sherds on the northwest side.

Later use

Girl Guide Building at Dudsbury Rings - geograph

The interior of the hillfort was used for agriculture for many years except for the northeast quadrant which has a house and garden. In 1930, fourteen acres were secured as a camp site for the Bournemouth Division of the

Girl Guides Association Girlguiding is the operating name of The Guide Association, previously named The Girl Guides Association and is the national guiding organisation of the United Kingdom. It is the UK's largest girl-only youth organisation. Girlguiding is a char ...

from its then owner,

Lord Wimborne Viscount Wimborne, of Canford Magna in the County of Dorset, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. History The title was created in 1918 for Ivor Guest, 2nd Baron Wimborne. The Guest family descends from the engineer and businessm ...

, who, in sympathy with the scheme, generously parted with the land for a nominal sum. This section is now the Dudsbury Guide Camp.The entrance location is 50.783094 N, 1.891914 W The house and garden in the northeast quadrant is now occupied by the Warden of the Guide Camp.

References

External links

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Dudsbury Guide Camp
{{Iron Age hillforts in England Hill forts in Dorset