Anstiebury Camp: a large multivallate hillfort south-east of Crockers Farm

Reasons for Designation

Small multivallate hillforts are defined as fortified enclosures of varying shape, generally between 1 and 5ha in size and located on hilltops. They are defined by boundaries consisting of two or more lines of closely set earthworks spaced at intervals of up to 15m. These entirely surround the interior except on sites located on promontories, where cliffs may form one or more sides of the monument. They date to the Iron Age period, most having been constructed and occupied between the sixth century BC and the mid-first century AD. Small multivallate hillforts are generally regarded as settlements of high status, occupied on a permanent basis. Recent interpretations suggest that the construction of multiple earthworks may have had as much to do with display as with defence. Earthworks may consist of a rampart alone or of a rampart and ditch which, on many sites, are associated with counterscarp banks and internal quarry scoops. Access to the interior is generally provided by one or two entrances, which either appear as simple gaps in the earthwork or inturned passages, sometimes with guardrooms. The interior generally consists of settlement evidence including round houses, four and six post structures interpreted as raised granaries, roads, pits, gullies, hearths and a variety of scattered post and stake holes. Evidence from outside numerous examples of small multivallate hillforts suggests that extra-mural settlement was of a similar nature. Small multivallate hillforts are rare with around 100 examples recorded nationally. Most are located in the Welsh Marches and the south-west with a concentration of small monuments in the north-east. In view of the rarity of small multivallate hillforts and their importance in understanding the nature of settlement and social organisation within the Iron Age period, all examples with surviving archaeological potential are believed to be of national importance.

Anstiebury Camp hillfort survives well and, as partial excavation of the monument has demonstrated, contains archaeological remains and environmental evidence relating to both the monument, its inhabitants, their economy and the landscape in which they lived.

Details

The monument includes a large multivallate hillfort constructed in the second and first centuries BC and situated on the crest of a hill in the Greensand overlooking the lower ground of the Weald to the south. Roughly circular, the hillfort encloses an area of level ground approximately 5ha in extent. Containing this area are defences which comprise a triple rampart to the north and south-east where the ground is fairly level, a double terrace on the west and south where the ground is much steeper, and a single line of defences to the north-east. The entrance is mid-way along the eastern side, defined by a wide break in the main rampart. The main inner rampart is up to 4m high and 15m wide with the associated external ditch being up to 6m wide and 1m deep. There is a broad berm or level platform of up to 11m wide between the inner and outer ramparts to the north and east. The second rampart is much lower, standing to a height of 2m and an overall width of up to 15m, with the associated external ditch 5m wide and up to 0.5m deep. The counterscarp bank is 8m wide and 1m high. Limited excavations were carried out in 1972-3 when a trench was cut through the defences to the south-east, the entrance through the main rampart was investigated and a few other small excavations carried out elsewhere across the monument. The front of the main rampart had been set into the inner edge of the associated ditch and revetted with massive, irregular blocks of sandstone. The excavator concluded that the multivallate defences were related to sling warfare due to their form and width, with rounded pebbles, foreign to the Greensand, being a constant feature in the areas he excavated. Also, he considered that the entrance and the defences to the north of it were never completed, a fact which may link with the deliberate demolition of the main rampart revetment, possibly coinciding with Caesar's landings of 55 BC and 54 BC. The site was re-occupied in the Roman period, probably at least a century after it was originally abandoned. Excluded from the scheduling are all fences and fence posts, the reservoir and associated water pipes although the ground beneath these features is included except for that beneath the reservoir.

MAP EXTRACT The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

20186

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Thompson, F H, Antiquaries Journal in Antiquaries Journal - 3 Surrey Hillforts: Excavations at Anstiebury, Holmbury and Hascombe, Vol. 59 part2, (1979), 245-318

End of official list entry

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