Chalbury Hillfort facts for kids
Viewed from Green Hill to the north
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 Location in Dorset
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| Location | Near Bincombe, Dorset |
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| Coordinates | 50°39′13″N 2°25′56″W / 50.65361°N 2.43222°W |
| Altitude | 116 m (381 ft) |
| Type | Hillfort |
| Area | 3.4 hectares (8.4 acres) |
| History | |
| Periods | Bronze Age Iron Age |
| Designated | 8 November 1928 |
| Reference no. | 1002711 |
Imagine a super old fortress built on a hill! That's pretty much what Chalbury Hillfort is. It's an ancient fort from the Iron Age, located about 1 mile (1.6 km) south-east of Bincombe village in Dorset, England. This amazing historical site is officially protected as a scheduled monument.
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What is Chalbury Hillfort?
Chalbury Hillfort is a type of ancient fortress. It was built on a hill, which gave it a great view. This helped people see anyone approaching from far away. The fort sits about 380 feet (116 meters) above sea level. From here, you can see Weymouth Bay about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) to the south. The hill itself is part of the Dorset Ridgeway.
How Was the Fort Built?
The hillfort has a single protective wall, called a rampart. It's shaped a bit like a "D". Outside this wall, there's a ditch. This whole area covers about 3.4 hectares (8.4 acres). The rampart is usually about 1 to 3 feet (0.3 to 1 meter) higher than the inside ground. It rises about 21 feet (6.5 meters) above the outside ditch. There's a main entrance gap on the south-east side.
Behind the rampart, especially north of the entrance, there's an inner ditch. This was a quarry ditch. People dug out material from here to build the fort's walls.
What Was Inside the Fort?
Inside the fort, you can see many circular dips in the ground. At least 20 of these were likely storage pits. People probably used them to store food or other important items.
Around the edge of the fort, there are also about 30 flat areas. These are thought to be platforms where huts once stood. Imagine a small village inside these ancient walls!
Older Discoveries
Even before the Iron Age fort was built, this spot was important. Inside the fort, there are two bowl barrows from the Bronze Age. These are ancient burial mounds. They are about 60 to 65 feet (18.5 to 20 meters) across and about 5.5 feet (1.7 meters) high.
What Else Can We See?
Around the fort, you might notice some old medieval strip lynchets. These are terraces created by ancient farming. Some of these farming terraces even run into the fort's rampart on the north side. This shows how the land was used much later, in the Middle Ages.
Digging Up the Past
Archaeologists studied Chalbury Hillfort in 1939. Miss M. Whitley led the excavation. They found that the rampart walls were strengthened with limestone. This made them very strong and durable.
Most of the items found were from the early Iron Age. This suggests the fort was used a lot during that time. However, a few finds were from the late Bronze Age and the Roman-British period. This tells us people visited or lived here at different times in history.
