More information : (ST 78981194) Camp (NR) (1)
BANBURY (790120), an Iron Age univallage hillfort of 3 acres on the summit of a low, flat-topped hill (Plate 182), rises to 361 ft. above O.D.; it lies on an isolated patch of Plateau Gravel, within a broad belt of Kimmeridge Clay. Though never very massive, its defences have been reduced in the past by cultivation. Where best preserved they consist of a bank 50 ft. across rising 2 ft. above the interior and 6 ft. above the ditch bottom, the ditch, being 25 ft. across and 1 ft. deep. In places, particularly along the S. side, the bank is no more than a scarp, 3 ft. high, and for much of the circumference the external ditch is no longer visible. The entrance gap, on the W. side, is protected by a flanking arm linked to the main rampart and consisting of a scarp up to 5 ft. high, with traces of an external ditch; the arm curves oddly, in an opposite arc to that of the main rampart, so that the access-way from the S. is at one point only 7 ft. wide. There has been slight quarrying into the outwork. No traces of internal remains exist. (2-3)
The Iron Age univallate hillfort on Banbury Hill is generally as described by R.C.H.M. (2), although the ramparts have since been reduced by ploughing to an average height of 2.0m. Nonetheless overall the site is well preserved and is now under permanent pasture. Poorly defined on OS air photographs (3).
Resurveyed at 1:2500 on MSDs ST 7811/12, 7911/12, in conjunction with RCHM plan. (4)
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