Monument record MDO6225 - Dudsbury, West Parley

A hillfort enclosing a roughly semi-circular area of around eight acres on a hill-top overlooking the River Stour. The enclosure takes the form of double banks and ditches on three sides, and a single, less massive rampart on the southern side where the ground falls steeply away to the River Stour. In 1975 the inner rampart in the best preserved part of the fort was described as standing 5 feet above the interior and 13 feet above the bottom of the adjacent ditch, with the outer rampart rising 19 feet above the bottom of the outer ditch. Gaps on the south and south-west sides appear to be original entrances. Sections of the ramparts and the interior have been damaged by later activity, particularly ploughing of the interior. It is now used as a camping site by the Guides. The hillfort earthworks are visible on 1940s aerial photographs and current Lidar imagery and were digitally plotted from these by the Dorset Stour NMP project.

SZ 077979 Dudsbury is an Iron Age hill fort prominently situated at about 100ft OD on the north bank of the River Stour. The ground falls precipitously to the river on the south and south west but slopes gently on the other sides. The defences enclose a rough semi-circular and slightly domed area of about 8 acres and consist of double ramparts and ditch on the west, north and east although much of the outer rampart and ditch has been obliterated or severely damaged. The best preserved portion lies just north of the south west corner where the inner rampart stands 5ft above the interior and 13ft above the bottom of the outer ditch. The outer rampart hare is essentially a scarp which rises 19ft above the bottom of the ditch. Along the south west side the defences comprise a single rampart 4 1/2 ft above the interior and some 16ft above an outer ledge or berm. Near the south corner the bank has been destroyed by ploughing and there is no trace of a ledge. There are four entrances to the fort; those to the east and north appear to be modern but those to south and west and especially the west, which may have been inturned, are probably the original. Limited excavation by Heywood Sumner in 1921 in the west half of the interior and across the west entrance were unproductive; a trench across the inner ditch to the north west side yielded only Iron Age `A' type sherds at the bottom of the ditch. The interior of the hill fort has been under cultivation for many years except for the north east quadrant which is occupied by a house and garden. Plan, Hawkes considered Dudsbury as an Iron Age `A' hill fort in 1931 with possible remodelling in the Iron Age `B' period, although he was still doubtful about Iron Age `B' in Dorset. <2-4>

OS 1:2500 (1949 and 1959) survey revised. <5>

Notice of additional Scheduled area. <6>

The hillfort earthworks are visible on 1940s aerial photographs and current Lidar imagery (3-4).

The visible features comprise the substantial outer and inner banks and internal ditch along the west, north and east sides of the hillfort. The outer bank is up to 25m wide, the inner between 11m and 18m in width. The internal ditch varies in width between 1.5m and 4.5m. A gap in the northern bank is shown as cut by a historic field boundary on the OS 1st Edition map; gaps in the east and west banks are cut by a historic trackway, also shown on the OS 1st Edition map <1>. The trackway is visible continuing west and then southwest for a distance of approximately 180m. On the south side of the trackway and external to the west side of the hillfort is a lozenge-shaped banked depression, which may be part of natural origin but could alternatively be part of the hillfort construction assoicated with the western approach and entrance.

On the south side of the hillfort the earthwork bank is only partially visible, the remainder of the south side formed of scarped slopes and declivities, some of which may be natural, or partly natural, in origin, forming a steep slope above the north edge of the River Stour <9-10>. The south-west side of the hillfort earthworks appear least well-preserved on current Lidar imagery and may have been subject to erosion or plough damage <9>.

The features were digitally plotted from 1940s aerial photographs and current Lidar imagery by the Dorset Stour NMP project.

Allcroft, A, 1908, Earthworks of England. Prehistoric Roman, Saxon, Danish, Norman, and Mediaeval (Monograph). SDO17956.

<1> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Map 6in, 1971 (Map). SWX1540.

(SZ 077979) Dudsbury (NAT) Fort (NR)

<2> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1975, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume V (East), 76-77 (Monograph). SDO129.

'(7) Dudsbury (077979), an Iron Age hill-fort prominently sited at about 100 ft. above O.D., lies on the N. bank of the R. Stour in an area of Tertiary sands, gravels and clays (plan, p. 77). The ground falls precipitately to the river on the S. and S.W., but it slopes gently away on the other sides. The defences enclose a roughly semicircular area of about 8 acres. There are double ramparts and ditches on the W., N. and E., but much of the outer rampart and ditch has been obliterated or severely damaged, especially by ploughing, drainage and tree planting. Where best preserved, just N. of the S.W. corner, the inner rampart stands 5 ft. above the interior and 13 ft. above the bottom of the ditch outside it. The outer rampart here is essentially a scarp which rises 19 ft. above the bottom of the outer ditch. Along the S.W. side the defences comprise a single rampart, which rises 4½ ft. above the interior, and some 16 ft. above a ledge or berm on the outside. Near the S. corner the bank has been destroyed by ploughing and there is no trace of a ledge.

There are four entrances; those on the E. and N. appear to be modern cuts, but those on the S.W. and W. are probably original. The S.W. entrance is a simple gap in the defences at the head of a natural gully at the top of the river cliff. The W. entrance has been badly mutilated by modern tracks and ploughing, but it seems likely that the inner rampart, at least, was inturned at the entrance. The interior of the hill-fort, slightly domed, has been under cultivation for many years, except for the N.E. quadrant which is occupied by a house and garden.

Limited excavations were carried out in 1921 by Heywood Sumner. Trial trenches in the W. half of the interior and one across the W. entrance were unproductive; a trench across the inner ditch on the N.W. side yielded only two sherds of Iron Age 'A' type, at the bottom of the ditch. Roman pottery has been found 300 yds. to the E. of the site, at 08029776. (Warne, Ancient Dorset, 53-5, H. Allcroft, Earthwork of England (1908), 191. Heywood Sumner, Local Papers (1931), 16-24; Antiquity, V (1931), 68). '

<2.1> Warne, C, 1872, Ancient Dorset (2nd Edition), 53-5 (Monograph). SWX1971.

<2.3> Sumner, Heywood, 1931, Local Papers, 16-24 (Monograph). SWX3911.

<3> Anon, 1931, Antiquity 5, 68, 81, 96 (Serial). SWX3552.

C Hawkes

<4> Forde-Johnston, J, 1976, Hill Forts of the Iron Age in England and Wales: A Survey of the Surface Evidence (Monograph). SDO17955.

<5> Quinnell, N V, Various, Field Investigators Comments NVQ, F1 NVQ 16-AUG-73 (Unpublished document). SDO11903.

<6> Department of the Environment, DOE (IAM) Ancient Monuments Record Form, 30-JUL-79 (Index). SDO17347.

<7> Hulka, S, and Cox, P, 1999, An Archaeological Evaluation of a Proposed Extension to the Existing Girl Guides Camp at Dudsbury Hillfort, West Parley, Dorset (Unpublished document). SDO14020.

<8> Valentin, J, and Cox, P, 1999, The Proposed Extension to the Existing Girl Guides Camp at Dudsbury Hillfort, West Parley, Dorset (SZ0765 9798): Preliminary Archaeological Assessment, Scheduled Ancient Monument Dorset 90 (Unpublished document). SDO14350.

<9> XX-XXX-2015, Environment Agency DTM Lidar 1m (Aerial Photograph). SDO15442.

<10> Royal Air Force, 20-MAR-45, RAF/106G/LA/187 RS 4041-2 (Aerial Photograph). SDO16098.

<11> Lock, G, and Ralston, I, 2017, Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland [ONLINE], EN3590 (Digital archive). SDO17130.

<12> Historic England, Historic England Archive, 884177 (Index). SDO14738.

RCHME: Dudsbury, West Parley, Devon: Pencil pen and crayon

<13> Historic England, Historic England Archive, RCH01/091 (Index). SDO14738.

RCHME Inventory: Dorset V (East): 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.

<14> National Record of the Historic Environment, 457812 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Oct 7 2024 3:55PM