Hunsbury Hill facts for kids

Hunsbury Hill is an ancient hill fort from the Iron Age. It's located about two miles (3 km) southwest of Northampton, a town in Northamptonshire, England.

This hill fort was likely built between the 7th and 4th centuries BC. Its deep ditch, dug for defense, can still be seen today. There was also a wooden wall, or rampart, around the fort. Interestingly, parts of Hunsbury Hill's inner ramparts show signs of being burned down and turned into a glass-like material, which is quite rare for forts in England.

Discoveries at Hunsbury Hill

Around 1883, people started digging for ironstone at Hunsbury Hill. Before this, there was an attempt to protect the site under a law called the Ancient Monuments Protection Act 1882. However, this failed because it would have cost too much to pay the landowner.

Even though much of the fort's inside was destroyed by the digging, this work led to an amazing discovery! Workers found up to 300 pits. In 1887, the curator of Northampton Museum said these pits held "numerous artefacts that now comprise one of the finest collections... of Prehistoric antiquities in England". These finds included iron weapons and tools, bronze brooches, pottery, glass, and about 159 quern-stones (which were used for grinding grain). All these valuable items were given to the town's museum.

Hunsbury Hill Today

Today, Hunsbury Hill fort is a special protected site known as a Scheduled monument. Over the years, parts of the fort's banks have been damaged. This happened because of the 19th-century quarrying, burrows made by European rabbits, and damage from tree roots. Now, the site is looked after by Northampton Borough Council and is used as a park for everyone to enjoy.

The Ironstone Railway

A railway line was built to help with the quarrying back in the day. While the original 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 ³⁄₈ in) gauge track was no longer used after the quarries closed around 1920, parts of the route remain. Since 1975, the Northamptonshire Ironstone Railway Trust has been working on this railway. They've added new lines and now use and maintain the track. From 1982 onwards, only standard gauge track has been used.

The area around Hunsbury Hill is now home to a large housing estate in Northampton called West Hunsbury.

Images for kids

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  Exposed tree roots at the fort site

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  3D view of the digital terrain model