Trendle Ring (or ''Trundle Ring'') is a late prehistoric earthwork on the

Quantock Hills The Quantock Hills west of Bridgwater in Somerset, England, consist of heathland, oak woodlands, ancient parklands and agricultural land. They were England's first Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, designated in 1956. Natural England have desi ...

near Bicknoller in

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. It is a

Scheduled 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 ...

. In 2013 it was added to the

Heritage at Risk Register An annual ''Heritage at Risk Register'' is published by Historic England. The survey is used by national and local government, a wide range of individuals and heritage groups to establish the extent of risk and to help assess priorities for acti ...

due to vulnerability to plant growth. The word ''trendle'' means ''circle'', so it is a tautological place name.''A Field Guide to Somerset Archaeology'', Lesley and Roy Adkins (1992) page 114 The site, which covers , is surrounded by a single rampart with a ditch and has a simple opening on the East, uphill side. The hillside is steep and there are two areas which may have been more level platforms. It is situated on the slope of a hill which rises 130 m above the ring.

Possible interpretations

Both the period of construction and the original purpose of the earthwork are uncertain. It has been described at different times by different authorities as a fort, a settlement, a livestock enclosure and a hill-slope enclosure. It may have served different purposes at different times. It has never been excavated and no found artifacts are associated with it. The size of the 'ramparts' would argue for a defensive purpose, but the only entrance on the uphill side would not. The lack of any water supply would argue against any permanent human occupation and against its use as a livestock enclosure, although two more level areas inside the earthwork have been identified as possible building platforms. Hill-slope enclosures are found in South West England dating from the first and second millennium BC. When excavated, they have sometimes been found to have had settlements inside them, resembling defensible farmsteads, but the extreme steepness of this site and its location halfway up the scarp of the Quantocks make it difficult to assign it a purely practical purpose.

Possible interpretations

See also

References

Further reading