Monument record MDO5996 - Mons Badonicus

Badbury Rings has been suggested as the site of the Mons Badonicus (or Badon Hill) referred to by Gildas in his De Excidio Britanniae. The record for this monument has been enhanced with support from Wessex Water.

Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1945, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1944, 19-30 (Serial). SDO44.

Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1975, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume V (East), 61 (Monograph). SDO129.

Papworth, M, 1994, Shapwick Parish, Kingston Lacy Estate, Wessex Region (Unpublished document). SDO14228.

The site has been identified with Arthur’s battle of Mount Baden in the 6th century and it was occupied briefly by Edward the Elder in 901AD and by Dorset Clubmen in 1645. In the medieval period the Badbury Hundred court was held here. The outer rampart overlies the edge of barrow 112,015 and the middle rampart cuts a barrow 112,261. The two sites indicate the importance of the hill before the Iron Age hillfort was constructed. After scrub clearance of the domed interior of the hillfort (autumn 1992) the earthwork evidence of occupation was clearly visible and this has been surveyed by RCHME. There are sites within the inner rampart of Post-medieval date. The top of the hill is occupied by Badbury Clump 112,559. There was a plantation here by 1742 (DCRO/BA) and medieval, 16th and 17th references to the site indicate that there were trees here then. Two dew ponds (112,561) within the inner rampart were probably excavated to hold drinking water for livestock. The top of the hill has been used for signals. A beacon was sited here during the Napoleonic war and the concrete anchors for a 1940s radio mast are still visible (112,709).

Record last edited

Jun 27 2023 2:19PM