More information : (SO 526464) Sutton Walls (NAT) Hill Fort (NR). (1)
Sutton Walls, a hill fort; the single rampart and ditch enclosing
an area of about 28 acres. The entrances are at the E and W ends,
the gaps on the N and S sides being modern. Large scale quarrying
started in 1935 within the interior, and about 25% of the western
end internally has been quarried away to a depth of some 6.0m.
The site was excavated by Miss K.M. Kenyon between 1948 and 1951.
The first occupation was early in the 1st century BC and was
occupied until the 4th century AD.
Finds. I.A. and Ro. Pottery was found in great abundance. Loom
weights, spindle whorls, and weaving combs are evidence of a
textile industry. Antler cheek-pieces of bridles and skeletal
remains show that horses were in common use.
Animal bones indicate the people were rich in herds. Iron slag
was found in most levels; also an iron anvil and fragments of
iron implements, rings, etc. Bronze objects suggest that some
bronze working was carried out on the site. Small finds include
bronze fibulae, iron objects incl. spear head and arrow head
and objects of bronze, shale, glass and bone. Also 5 Roman coins.
Twenty four bodies were identified. These were a group of war
casualties killed in the defence of the fort against the Romans.
Full details of excavation. (2)
As described. A small part of the west entrance has been
destroyed by the quarrying inside the fort.
Published 25" survey revised. (3)
SO 525 464. Sutton Walls. Listed in gazetteer as a univallate hillfort covering 11.5ha. (4)
Sutton Walls. Description and plan. (5)
Sutton Walls. Hill-top fort. Defences consist of a steep scarp, except for a small portion, some 50yds long, in the middle of the S side, where there is a slight earthen rampart. There were [in 1932] 5 entrances of which 2 were held to be original. That at the E end, where the scarp lay well inwards on each side of the opening, and that at the W end where the scarp was also turned inwards on each side. Within the enclosure lay a large sinking called "The King's Cellar" [VCH has this as "King's Collar"] which was then some 16ft deep and of rounded form some 60yds across. This, however, may merely have been the product of quarrying.
Small fragments of Samian have been found on the site which, it is suggested, may be that refered to by Giraldus Cambrensis in his account of the murder of Ethelbert by King Offa, as Villa Australis. Leland saw the remains of a "stone castle" here in the first half of the C16. [Account includes published plan]. (6) |