More information : SJ 2967 3113. Several large pits, probably the result of Post Medieval quarrying within the interior of Old Oswestry hillfort, are visible as cropmarks on aerial photographs and have been mapped by RCHME's Marches Uplands Mapping Project. (1)
It is more likely that some or all of these depressions were formed during the military use of the site, see monument record UID 1400540 for a full description. (2)
Surveyed at 1:1,000 scale as part of an analytical earthwork survey of Old Oswestry by EH, in 2008. The plan has been deposited in the NMR Archives and a report has been produced as part of the EH Research Department Report Series (no 82-2010). Dark patches visible the hillfort's interior prior to Second World War ploughing were mapped and interpreted as 'extraction pits of probable post medieval date' by the Marches Uplands Project in 1996. Those in the southern part of the hillfort are not apparent as earthworks, however, four large hollows remain in the north-eastern half of the hillfort interior. These consist of a row of three large oval-shaped hollows close to the hillfort's northern tip and a single sub-circular example close to the south-eastern rampart. All have rounded profiles, presumably due to the later ploughing. The sub-circular hollow appears to form part of the military system, since a trench leads directly towards it and, along with the trench system, it appears as a dark area on an aerial photograph of the early 1940s (NMR SJ2930/1). The other hollows have no obvious connection with the First World War trench system, although they could be the result of explosives detonation.(3) |