Monument record MDO5940 - Penbury Knoll, Pentridge

An Iron Age univallate hillfort, possibly unfinished, on Penbury Knoll. The earthworks consist of a single bank and ditch enclosing an area of just under 4 acres on the summit of a narrow ridge. The monument has been disturbed by quarrying. In 1975 the better-preserved parts of the ramparts were described as a bank up to 25 feet wide and 2 feet high with a ditch 25 feet across and up to 3 feet deep. There is a gap on the eastern side of circa 100 feet which appears to be occupied by neither earthwork nor quarrying evidence. Elsewhere the earthworks are very slight and there is no apparent entrance, so it is thought that the hillfort may not have been finished. There are no traces of occupation in the interior, although parts of the interior are obscured by trees and undergrowth. The field system to the northwest appears to be related to the enclosure, but the precise relationship is unclear.

(SU 03951711) Penbury Knoll (NAT) Camp (NR). <1>

(18) HILL-FORT (040171), on Penbury Knoll, is a small univallate enclosure, possibly unfinished: it is pear-shaped in plan and 3 3/4 acres in area internally. It lies over 575 ft. above O.D., on the summit of a long, narrow N.E.-S.W. Chalk ridge, capped with Reading Beds and Clay-with-flints. The site has been severely damaged by shallow quarrying in the past and much of the interior is obscured by trees and undergrowth. On W. and N. the enclosure is defined by a bank, up to 25 ft. across and 2 ft. high above the interior, broken on the N.W. by a large quarry-pit. In front of the rampart on the W. is a ditch up to 3 ft. deep and 25 ft. across; on the N. is a terrace about 10 ft. wide. The remainder of the circuit of the defences, except for a gap of 100 ft. on the E., is represented by a scarp up to 25 ft. in width and from 1 to 5 ft. in height. Behind the rampart on the N. side are quarry pits contemporary with its construction, but elsewhere within the interior quarrying appears to be of more recent date. No occupation features are visible in the interior and no certain entrance can be detected. 'Celtic' fields (Group (85), p. 118) lie immediately W. and N. of the enclosure and are probably, but not certainly, associated with it. <3>

SU 039 171. Penbury Knoll. Listed in gazetteer as a univallate hillfort covering 1.5ha. <5>

<1> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Map 6in, 1963 (Map). SWX1540.

<2> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1970, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1969, 173 (Serial). SDO69.

‘Penbury Knoll, Pentridge, SU 041170. This appears to be an important site, but Neolithic (possibly ‘Beaker’) artifacts also occur in the same general area. Finds include: 1 small tranchet axe; 1 non-tranchet axe; 1 pick; 3 microliths with oblique blunting, form A 1; 9 convex scrapers; 3 end scrapers; 1 knife; 1 awl; 1 truncated blade; 7 retouched flakes; 10 utilised flakes; 4 core-trimming flakes; 8 blade cores and about 3 dozen waste flakes. One waste flake and two utilised flakes are in Portland chert.’

<3> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1975, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume V (East), 56 (Monograph). SDO129.

‘(18) HILL-FORT (040171), on Penbury Knoll, is a small univallate enclosure, possibly unfinished; it is pear-shaped in plan and 3¾ acres in area internally. It lies over 575 ft. above O.D., on the summit of a long, narrow N.E.-S.W. Chalk ridge, capped with Reading Beds and Clay-with-flints. The site has been severely damaged by shallow quarrying in the past and much of the interior is obscured by trees and undergrowth. On W. and N. the enclosure is defined by a bank, up to 25 ft. across and 2 ft. high above the interior, broken on the N.W. by a large quarry-pit. In front of the rampart on the W. is a ditch up to 3 ft. deep and 25 ft. across; on the N. is a terrace about 10 ft. wide. The remainder of the circuit of the defences, except for a gap of 100 ft. on the E., is represented by a scarp up to 25 ft. in width and from 1 to 5 ft. in height. Behind the rampart on the N. side are quarry pits contemporary with its construction, but elsewhere within the interior quarrying appears to be of more recent date. No occupation features are visible in the interior and no certain entrance can be detected. ‘Celtic’ fields (Group (85), p.118) lie immediately W. and N. of the enclosure and are probably, but not certainly, associated with it.’

<4> Historic England, Historic England Archive, Object Number: RCH01/091 (Index). SDO14738.

Object Title: RCHME Inventory: Dorset V (East). Scope & Content: Annotated publication proofs for Dorset V, East Dorset, published in 1974. Also includes original surveys, drawings and field notes, and unpublished material. Original survey material has been catalogued.

<5> Hogg, A H A, 1979, British hillforts: an index, Volume 62, 206 (Monograph). SDO17414.

<6> Lewis, B and Coleman, R, 1982, Pentridge Hill, Dorset: Trial Excavations; Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 59-65 (Article in serial). SDO12556.

<7> Arnold, J, Green, M, Lewis, B and Bradley, R, 1989, The Mesolithic of Cranborne Chase (Article in serial). SDO12557.

<8> Bowen, H C, 1990, The Archaeology of Bokerley Dyke (Monograph). SWX800.

<9> Barrett, J, Bradley, R and Green, M, 1991, Landscape, Monuments and Society: the prehistory of Cranborne Chase, 229 (Monograph). SDO16633.

<10> Lock, G, and Ralston, I, 2017, Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland [ONLINE], EN3602 (Digital archive). SDO17130.

<11> Historic England, Historic England Archive, Object Number: 884253 (Index). SDO14738.

Object Title: RCHME: Penbury Knoll Hillfort & Celtic Fields, Pentridge, Dorset.
Scope & Content: Fields, Pentridge, Dorset Includes contours

<12> National Record of the Historic Environment, 213562 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Nov 23 2022 9:49AM