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KENWALCHS CASTLE

ALTERNATIVE NAME:

Castle Wood

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DESCRIPTION

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Earthwork remains of an Iron Age univallate hillfort.

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[ST 74773354] CAMP [G.T.] (1)

A univallate Iron Age hillfort, 240 yds. X 120 yds, generally known
as Kenwalch's Castle. The bank is more pronounced on the north and
south where it varies between 14-18ft above the ditch, being higher
on the south. The ditch is much silted on the east, and altered by
tree planting on the west. The original entrance was probably
destroyed during the making of the road which now bisects the site.

Scheduled. (2-4)

This hillfort occupies the full width of the flat top of a
north-south ridge and, to east and west, the bank is atop steep
slopes. The gaps through which the modern road passes are wider than
the road and there can be little doubt that they are original
entrances.

Resurveyed at 1:2500. (5)

Well preserved; no change. Surveyed at 1:2500 on PFD. (6)

ST 748 336. Kenwalch's Castle (Castle Wood) Charlton Musgrove. Listed
in gazetteer as a univallate hillfort covering 1.6ha. (7)

Castle Wood. Listed in gazetteer of Wiltshire hillforts. (8)

Castle Wood/Kenwalch's Camp hillfort was surveyed by staff of the RCHME Salisbury office as part of a project focussing on the earthwork sites of South Wiltshire. The following is a summary of the more detailed archive report:

The hillfort is trapezoidal in shape and 1.6ha in extent. The enclosure is univallate with an internal bank and external ditch. Along the straightened SE side the defences attain massive proportions relative to the area enclosed. Morphologically, the SE side of the hillfort is similar to a cross-ridge dyke in that it severely restricts access along the ridge top. It could be postulated that this section of the defences was originally a cross-ridge dyke.

There are two entrances in the enclosure circuit. The modern road is routed through them, as is the county boundary bank and another parallel bank. Given the topographical location of the enclosure, it is possible that both entrances are original features. At the N end, for example, both sets of bank and ditch terminals appear rounded and undamaged. No internal detail was noted. (9)

SOURCE TEXT

( 1) Ordnance Survey Map (Scale / Date)

OS 6" (prov) 1962

( 2) General reference

V.C.H., Somer., II, 1911, 511

( 3) General reference

P.Som. A & N.H.S., 50, 1904, 43/4.

( 4) General reference

A.M.s Eng. & Wales, 1961, 82. (M.O.W.)

( 5) Field Investigators Comments

F1 GHP 05-NOV-66

( 6) Field Investigators Comments

F2 MJF 11-JUN-75

( 7) General reference

BAR 62 British Hill-Forts: An Index 1979 204 (AHA Hogg)

( 8) General reference

VCH Wiltshire 1 pt 1 1957 269 No 210

( 9) General reference

RCHME Field Investigation 26-SEP-1991

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