Yarborough Camp large univallate hillfort

Reasons for Designation

Large multivallate hillforts are defined as fortified enclosures of between 5ha and 85ha in area, located on hills and defined by two or more lines of concentric earthworks set at intervals of up to 15m. They date to the Iron Age period, most having been constructed and used between the sixth century BC and the mid-first century AD. They are generally regarded as centres of permanent occupation, defended in response to increasing warfare, a reflection of the power struggle between competing elites. Earthworks usually consist of a rampart and ditch, although some only have ramparts. Access to the interior is generally provided by two entrances although examples with one and more than two have been noted. These may comprise a single gap in the rampart, inturned or offset ramparts, oblique approaches, guardrooms or outworks. Internal features generally include evidence for intensive occupation, often in the form of oval or circular houses. These display variations in size and are often clustered, for example, along streets. Four- and six-post structures, interpreted as raised granaries, also occur widely while a few sites appear to contain evidence for temples. Other features associated with settlement include platforms, paved areas, pits, gullies, fencelines, hearths and ovens. Additional evidence, in the form of artefacts, suggests that industrial activity such as bronze- and iron-working as well as pottery manufacture occurred on many sites. Large multivallate hillforts are rare with around 50 examples recorded nationally. These occur mostly in two concentrations, in Wessex and the Welsh Marches, although scattered examples occur elsewhere. In view of the rarity of large multivallate hillforts and their importance in understanding the nature of social organisation within the Iron Age period, all examples with surviving archaeological potential are believed to be of national importance.

Yarborough Camp is one of a small number of monuments which have been identified as Iron Age hillforts on the Lincolnshire Wolds. It is a well preserved earthwork site which will retain significant archaeological deposits within the interior of the camp and in the ramparts and infilled surrounding ditch. The finds of Romano-British period material in the hillfort add to the monument's importance as it suggests that it was later re-used or continued in use into at least the 4th century AD.

Details

The monument includes the buried and earthwork remains of a hillfort defended by a substantial single bank and ditch. It is sited on a slight hillspur on the northern side of the Kirmington Gap, just over 1km WSW of Croxton. Yarborough Camp was interpreted by antiquarians as a Roman fortification and in 1776 Stukeley recorded that a large number of Roman coins, many of the early 4th century Emperor Licinius, were found there. In 1952 it was reported that there had been surface finds of a small quantity of pottery, interpreted as Romano-British, and a few flint scrapers inside the camp. The monument is sited on the line of a prehistoric trackway which was later modified and improved by the Romans. Known as High Street, this track ran mainly along the dip slope of the Wolds from Horncastle in the south to the Humber. The monument also overlooks the Iron Age and Romano-British settlement of Kirmington which lies 1.7km to the south east. Yarborough Camp is sited on a slight break of slope on a south east facing hillside. It is nearly square in plan, being 80m east-west and 60m north-south internally, and formed by a substantial earthen and chalk bank with a mainly infilled ditch approximately 10m wide immediately around the outside. The eastern rampart is slightly bowed outwards, the other three sides being straight. The northern rampart diverges slightly from the southern rampart so that the interior measures approximately 55m north-south on its western side and 65m on its eastern side. The banks are rounded in profile and typically spread to 10m wide, standing 1m to 1.5m high. The corners, however, are more substantial, standing to at least 2m, the south eastern corner to over 3m high externally. The ground surface on this south eastern side of the hillfort is lower than around the rest of the circuit. However, the interior of the hillfort is level, and appears to have been built up on the southern eastern side to at least 1m. The central portion of the eastern rampart is slightly flattened and has been identified as the entrance to the hillfort. The surface of the trackway that runs along part of the mainly infilled ditch on the outside of the southern ramparts is excluded from the scheduling, although the ground beneath is included.

MAP EXTRACT The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract. It includes a 2 metre boundary around the archaeological features, considered to be essential for the monument's support and preservation.

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

32623

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Other
Record Card, North Lincolnshire SMR, 743,

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