Reasons for Designation
Promontory forts are a type of hillfort in which conspicuous naturally
defended sites are adapted as enclosures by the construction of one or more
earth or stone ramparts placed across the neck of a spur in order to divide it
from the surrounding land. Coastal situations, using headlands defined by
steep natural cliffs, are common while inland similar topographic settings
defined by natural cliffs are also used. The ramparts and accompanying ditches
formed the main artificial defence, but timber palisades may have been erected
along the cliff edges. Access to the interior was generally provided by an
entrance through the ramparts. The interior of the fort was used intensively
for settlement and related activities, and evidence for timber- and stone-
walled round houses can be expected, together with the remains of buildings
used for storage and enclosures for animals. Promontory forts are generally
Iron Age in date, most having been constructed and used between the sixth
century BC and the mid-first century AD. They are broadly contemporary with
other types of hillfort. They are regarded as settlements of high status,
probably occupied on a permanent basis, and recent interpretations suggest
that their construction and choice of location had as much to do with display
as defence. Promontory forts are rare nationally with less than 100 recorded
examples. In view of their rarity and their importance in the understanding of
the nature of social organisation in the later prehistoric period, all
examples with surviving archaeological remains are considered nationally
important.
Details
The monument includes a promontory fort on the east side of Peckforton Mere.
The mere used to be much larger during the prehistoric period and this
promontory would have jutted out into it. The River Gowy originally flowed out
of the mere on the north side and this formed the northern defence of the
fort. The present stream course lies further north than the original river and
has been diverted by recent drainage operations.
The fort has a bank and external ditch cutting off a piece of high ground
which used to be a promontory and curving around it on the north and south
sides, leaving the west side open to be defended in antiquity by the mere and
the old course of the Gowy.
The original bank and ditch are only partially visible as upstanding
earthworks. They have been much reduced by ploughing and in places the line of
the infilled ditch is only visible on aerial photographs. Where it does
survive as an earthwork the bank is 16m wide and only 0.3m high. The ditch is
13m wide and 0.5m deep at its centre. Around 180m of the bank and ditch
survives as upstanding earthworks; the remaining 280m length of defences is
only visible on aerial photographs. The area thus enclosed is about 0.35ha in
extent.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
Legacy System number:
25703
Legacy System:
RSM
Sources
Books and journals Other
Legal
This monument is scheduled under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 as amended as it appears to the Secretary of State to be of national importance. This entry is a copy, the original is held by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
End of official list entry
