Monument record MDO1636 - Lambert's Castle, Marshwood

Lambert's Castle is a large univallate Iron Age hillfort located on the end of a spur 425 metres west of Nash Farm. The hillfort has a rampart 8 metres wide rising up to 3 metres above the base of the 4 metre wide and 1.5 metre deep external ditch, built along the escarpment and across the level ridge at the southern end, enclosing a rectangular area about 4.7ha in size. There is a couterscarp bank on the outside of the ditch visible intermittently around the enclosure, 2 metres wide and 0.3 metres high. These earthworks have been disturbed by 19th century field walls which have often been cut into the scarp of the bank or ditch. On the southern side a gap in the ramparts with a corresponding causeway across the ditch provides access across the level neck of the spur. The entrance gap is 12 metres wide but may have been disturbed. The earthworks on this side are more substantial than elsewhere in the hillfort. A second entrance on the northern side may have been original, consisting of a causeway across the ditch with a hollow way continuing into the interior. Following storm damage in January 1990 a section across the rampart in the north west corner of the hillfort was recorded by the National Trust before reinstatement. This indicated that there were two or possibly three phases of construction, the earliest being a box rampart of dump construction, built on the old land surface, with timber palisades lining the inner and outer faces and possibly a stone facing on the outside.

Warne quotes Hutchins who described Lambert's Castle as covering about 12 acres, with triple ramparts and ditches and three entrances. Warne himself found the fort much overgrown and could only detect a single strong bank with outer ditch, and one entrance. He saw traces of another bank, perhaps an outer work, 'on the plain of the hill beyond the Castle'. <1>

Lambert's Castle: an Early Iron Age fort with a single bank above a scarp 20 to 25 feet in height. The ditch on the north-west side has a counterscarp bank. There is an entrance on the south side. The interior has been divided and ploughed. <2>

A rapid examination of air photography (6a) shows the earthworks of this Early Iron Age (?) univallate hillfort. <4> <5-8>

Storm damage to the rampart revealed two or more phases of construction. The first phase consisted of a box rampart of dump construction with palisades lining the front and rear faces of the rampart; the front may have has a stone facing. The next phase consisted of cutting back vertically the now collapsed box rampart and the erection of a dry-stone retaining wall with possible timber support. No dating evidence was recovered though box ramparts are usually added to the early or late Iron Age and dry-stone timber revetted walls are found from the late Iron Age to the Saxon period. <9>

An Iron Age univallate hillfort on the northern end of the spur of Castle Hill. The hillfort consists of a relatively slight bank and ditch around three sides where there is a steep natural slope, and more substantial earthworks on the southern side. It encloses a rectangular area abot 4.7 ha in size. The earthworks are visible on aerial photographs and were digitally plotted during the Marshwood Vale NMP . <10-12>

Stewart, D, Lambert's Castle, Marshwood, Dorset. A Geophysical Survey (Unpublished document). SDO21394.

<1> Warne, C, 1872, Ancient Dorset (Monograph). SDO10094.

<2> Fox, A, 1951, Correspondents Annotated 6" Sheet (A Fox, March 1951) (Index). SDO17350.

<3> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey map 6 inches to 1 mile, 1968 (Map). SDO17337.

(SY 37159905) Lambert's Castle (NAT) Fort (NR)

<4> Miller, Andrew, RCHME/EH/HE Aerial Photographers comment AM, 18-JUN-1996 (Verbal communication). SDO17356.

<5> St Joseph, J K, St Joseph AR 90 (Aerial Photograph). SDO17352.

<6> National Monuments Record, NMR SY3698/3-7 (Aerial Photograph). SDO17353.

<7> National Monuments Record, NMR SY3798/3, 5-6 (Aerial Photograph). SDO17354.

<8> National Monuments Record, NMR SY3799/1-2 (Aerial Photograph). SDO17355.

<9> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1991, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1990, 115 (Serial). SDO90.

<10> Royal Air Force, 11-APR-1947, RAF/CPE/UK/1974 FP 1414-5 (Aerial Photograph). SDO14808.

<11> 23-APR-1980, DAP 6786/01-2 (NMR SY 3799/1-2) (Aerial Photograph). SDO14809.

<12> Dorset County Council, 2002, Dorset County Council Vertical Photograph, SY3799.ecw (Aerial Photograph). SDO13401.

<13> Parkes, Adrian and Kathy, 2010, Lambert's Castle: Fair and Races (Monograph). SDO16852.

<14> Lock, G, and Ralston, I, 2017, Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland [ONLINE], EN3596 (Digital archive). SDO17130.

<15> National Record of the Historic Environment, 449717 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Apr 7 2025 12:31PM