Segsbury Camp or Segsbury 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 mostl ...
hillfort
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 crest of the
Berkshire Downs
The Berkshire Downs are a range of chalk downland hills in South east England split between the counties of Berkshire and Oxfordshire. They are part of the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The western parts of the downs ...
, near the
Ridgeway above
Wantage
Wantage () is a historic market town and civil parish in Oxfordshire, England. Although within the boundaries of the historic county of Berkshire, it has been administered as part of the Vale of White Horse district of Oxfordshire since 1974. T ...
, in the
Vale of White Horse
The Vale of White Horse is a local government district of Oxfordshire in England. It was historically a north-west projection of Berkshire. The area is commonly referred to as the 'Vale of ''the'' White Horse'. It is crossed by the Ridgeway N ...
district of
Oxfordshire,
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 ...
. It is in
Letcombe Regis
Letcombe Regis is a village and civil parish in the Vale of White Horse. It was part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred the Vale of White Horse to Oxfordshire. The village is on Letcombe Brook at the foot of the Berkshire ...
civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...
and is also called ''Letcombe Castle''.
The fort has extensive ditch and ramparts and four gateways.
Excavation at the site by Dr Phené in 1871 discovered a cist grave on the south side of the hillfort rampart. The grave was floored with stone slabs and the sides were walled with flint. Finds included a shield boss and fragments of an urn or drinking cup. Among other finds were human bones and flint scrapers. It has been suggested that this was a secondary
Anglo-Saxon burial, placed at the camp.
Further excavation was carried out in 1996 and 1997. The report on this work describes the periodic occupation of the hillfort between the 6th and 2nd centuries BC and suggests that it was a communal centre for various activities, including sheep management and exchange.
Location
The site is at
Ordnance Survey
Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see ordnance and surveying), which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of 1745. There was a ...
six-figure .
Image gallery
Image:Segsbury Camp, from the Ridgeway, Oxfrodshire.jpg, Segsbury Camp seen from the west from The Ridgeway
The ancient tree-lined path winds over the downs countryside
The Ridgeway is a ridgeway or ancient trackway described as Britain's oldest road. The section clearly identified as an ancient trackway extends from Wiltshire along the chalk ...
Image:Segsbury Camp - geograph.org.uk - 61183.jpg, Segsbury Camp earthworks
File:Segsbury Camp ditch.JPG, Segsbury Camp ditch
References
Bibliography
Lock, G., Gosden, C. and Daly, P. 2005, ''Segsbury Camp: Excavations in 1996 and 1997 at an Iron Age hillfort on the Oxfordshire Ridgeway'', Oxford University School of Archaeology, Monograph 61
External links
Ancient Britain - Segsbury Camp
Hill forts in Berkshire
Tourist attractions in Oxfordshire
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