Small Down Knoll, or Small Down Camp, is a

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second prin ...

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 ...

near

Evercreech Evercreech is a village and civil parish south east of Shepton Mallet, and north east of Castle Cary, in the Mendip district of Somerset, England. The parish includes the hamlet of Stoney Stratton and the village of Chesterblade. History The ...

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. The hill is on the southern edge of the Mendip Hills, and rises to 222 m (728 ft). Finds of flints indicate a prehistoric Mesolithic occupation. The fort has multiple ramparts ('' multivallate'') following the contours of the hilltop, enclosing an area of about 2.4 ha (6 acres). Most of the perimeter is a double rampart, but the flatter eastern side has an extra counterscarp rampart with well-defined double ditches. There are two entrances to the south-east: one is a simple opening with evidence of a guardhouse; and the other shows linear features of a holloway. The fort contains about 14 round barrows (''

tumuli A tumulus (plural tumuli) is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds or ''kurgans'', and may be found throughout much of the world. A cairn, which is a mound of stones built ...

''), which form a line of burials running east–west along the crest of the hill. The fort and the barrows appear to be

, but excavations have found some

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 ...

pottery in the barrows and the ditches. The fort is near the Fosse Way Roman road. The name of the nearby village of ''Stoney Stratton'' means ''on the stoney stone paved road'', which implies there was also a local Roman road in the area, but there are no Roman or post-Roman remains on the site. The fort was excavated in 1904 by Mr. H. St. George Gray, the finds included flints, pottery, and burials sites with human remains. The hill fort is 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 ...

, and an Open Access area under a

DEFRA DEFRA may refer to: * Deficit Reduction Act of 1984, United States law * Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, United Kingdom government department {{Disambiguation ...

scheme.

References

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See also

References

Further reading