Stonea Camp facts for kids

Stonea Camp is an ancient hill fort from the Iron Age period. It is located near March in the Cambridgeshire Fens area of England. A hill fort is a type of settlement built on a hill or raised ground, often surrounded by strong walls or ditches for protection.

Stonea Camp is special because it's built on a gravel bank only about 2 meters (6.5 feet) above sea level. This makes it the lowest hill fort in all of Britain! Around 500 BC, when people started building here, this small "hill" was a very important dry spot in the middle of the wet, marshy fens.

This site shows that it was developed in at least two main stages over hundreds of years. It started with a D-shaped set of earth banks. Later, a bigger, more formal set of banks and ditches was added around it. This type of fort, with multiple rings of banks and ditches, is called a multivallate fort.

Roman Times at Stonea

Stonea Camp might have been the site of a famous battle in 47 AD. This battle was between the Iceni tribe and a Roman army led by Governor Ostorius Scapula. The Roman writer Tacitus wrote about this fight.

Sadly, human bones found around the site show signs of this battle. Some adult bones have sword marks, and a child's skull was found cleaved. This suggests that the people living in the fort were trapped and attacked during the fight.

Archaeologists have also found the remains of a tall Roman tower near Stonea Camp. This building was likely built by the Romans to keep control of the area. It might have been used to stop any more rebellions from the local tribes or to prevent new settlements from being built here.

Exploring and Protecting the Site

Important archaeological digs were carried out at Stonea Camp in 1980 by the British Museum. Later, in 1991, work was done to restore the outer banks and ditches. These parts had been worn away over time, especially by farming.

The Cambridgeshire County Council Archaeology department has continued to work on restoring and looking after the site. To protect Stonea Camp from further damage, it is now a special protected area called a pocket park. It is also listed as a scheduled ancient monument, which means it's an important historical site protected by law.

Images for kids

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  A wide view of Stonea Camp, showing its ancient earthworks.