Westbury Camp facts for kids

Westbury Camp is an ancient hill fort from the Iron Age in the Mendip Hills in Somerset, England. It's called a "univallate" fort because it has one main defensive wall or rampart.

This old fort is located near the village of Draycott and Westbury-sub-Mendip. Most of the camp sits on a hill slope. Over many years, small quarries have damaged the defenses on the northeast side. The narrow top of the hill bank suggests that it might have had a dry stone wall on top. Along part of the east side, you can still see traces of a flat area called a berm between the bank and the outer ditch. At the western corner, there are shallow pits both inside and outside the main wall.

What are Hill Forts?

Hill forts are ancient strongholds. People built them on hills, often using the natural shape of the land for defense. They usually had large banks and ditches around them.

These forts became common in Britain during the Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age. This was roughly around the start of the first millennium BC, which is about 3,000 years ago.

Why Were Hill Forts Built?

Experts have debated why people built so many hill forts. One idea is that they were military sites. They might have been built to protect against invaders from other parts of Europe. Another thought was that invaders themselves built them.

Some historians believe they were a way to deal with social problems. As more people lived in Britain, there was more pressure on farming land. This could lead to arguments and even fighting between groups.

A popular idea since the 1960s is that the discovery of iron changed society. Iron ore was found in different places than the tin and copper needed for bronze. This changed how people traded goods. Old leaders might have lost their power, and new groups became important.

Archaeologist Barry Cunliffe thinks that more people living in the area played a big part. He suggests that hill forts offered places for communities to defend themselves. This was especially true when tensions led to open warfare. He doesn't think they were built only because there was a constant state of war. Instead, they were useful strongholds when problems arose. Some forts were certainly attacked and destroyed. However, this was not the only, or even the most important, reason for their creation.