Kelsborrow Castle 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 ...
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 ...
in
Cheshire
Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...
, northern
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. Hill forts were fortified hill-top settlements constructed across Britain during the Iron Age. It is one of only seven hill forts in the county of Cheshire and was probably in use for only a short time. In the 19th century, a bronze
palstave {{Short description, European Bronze Age axe
A palstave is a type of early bronze axe. It was common in the middle Bronze Age in northern, western and south-western Europe. In the technical sense, although precise definitions differ, an axe is gener ...
was recovered from the site.
It is protected as a
Scheduled Ancient 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 ...
.
Location
Although there are over 1,300
hill forts in England, most are concentrated in southern England, and there are only seven in Cheshire. Along with
Eddisbury and
Oakmere
Oakmere is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Delamere and Oakmere, in the Cheshire West and Chester district, in the county of Cheshire, England. The population of the civil parish taken at the 2011 census was 589. The civi ...
, Kelsborrow forms a small cluster of Iron Age hill forts within of each other, near the Mouldsworth Gap, a break in the central ridge that runs north–south through Cheshire. The hill forts at Eddisbury and Oakmere lie to the north-east and east respectively. Kelsborrow Castle is located at , above sea level. The site overlooks the
Cheshire Plain to the west, south-west, and south. There is high ground immediately to the east of Kelsborrow Castle, rising to a height of .
[Forde-Johnston (1962), p. 20.]
Layout
As well as being a hill fort, Kelsborrow Castle is a type of
promontory fort
A promontory fort is a defensive structure located above a steep cliff, often only connected to the mainland by a small neck of land, thus using the topography to reduce the ramparts needed. Although their dating is problematic, most seem to da ...
, as it exploits the natural steep slopes of the area to create a defensive site.
The site is surrounded by an artificial bank and ditch, although there is a gap in the ditch for around in the west. This is probably because the ground slopes sharply away where there is no ditch.
The best surviving parts of the bank are high, and the distance between the outer edge of the ditch and the inner edge of the rampart is .
The defences cover , and enclose an area of . The entrance of the fort is probably in the south-east.
Multivallate
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 ...
(more than one series of earthworks) forts are common in southern England; that Kelsborrow Castle is single vallate (i.e. it has only one ditch and bank) means it is probably a
one-phase site, indicating it would only have been used for a short time.
[Forde-Johnston (1962), p. 45.] The hill fort is similar in typology to the hill forts at
Bradley, and Oakmere, in Cheshire, and
Castercliff
Castercliff is an Iron Age multivallate hillfort situated close to the towns of Nelson and Colne in Lancashire, Northern England.
__TOC__
It is located on a hilltop overlooking the valley system of the River Calder and its tributaries, on the ...
and Portfield in
Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly.
The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...
.
Preservation and current state
Geophysical surveys and small-scale
archaeological excavations
In archaeology, excavation is the exposure, processing and recording of archaeological remains. An excavation site or "dig" is the area being studied. These locations range from one to several areas at a time during a project and can be condu ...
in 1973 and 1996 indicated that there may be structures such as
storage pits buried within the hill fort. The site is part of wider agricultural land and suffers erosion from vehicles and livestock movement. Animal burrows and the spread of bracken also pose a threat to the site. Although the site is designated as "at low risk", a more recent survey has suggested changing it to "at high risk" because of activities such as ploughing at Kelsborrow Castle. Five of the hill forts in Cheshire have been assessed as being "at high risk" compared to 15% of
North West England
North West England is one of nine official regions of England and consists of the ceremonial counties of England, administrative counties of Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside. The North West had a population of ...
's Scheduled Monuments.
See also
*
Scheduled Monuments in Cheshire (pre-1066)
References
Citations
Sources
*
*
*
{{Iron Age hillforts in England
Hill forts in Cheshire
Buildings and structures in Cheshire
Scheduled monuments in Cheshire