More information : [ST 88832506] Castle Rings (Camp) [G.T.] (1)
IA univallate hillfort, roughly oval, with ditch extending
west. 12 acres. (2)
A single ditch between double banks encloses the camp. There
are four gaps in the earthworks, in the North, South, East and
West. These may or may not be original entrances. All signs of
habitation have been destroyed by cultivation and there are no
clear indications of the period of the camp.
An outlying bank is shown on the south-west side of the camp
on Colt-Hoare's plan, this is spread but still traceable in the
arable fields and clearly defined in Crater Wood. The ditch
is on the west side. (3)
The earthwork is correctly described by Authy. 2. The ditch
is the principal feature and the soil from it has been thrown
up to form the ramparts on either side. The outwork to the west
crosses the ridge of high ground and terminates at the top
of natural scarps on the north and south.
The situation, at the west end of a ridge of high ground, and
the plan are clearly indicative of an Iron Age date.
Resurveyed at 1/2500. (4-5)
No change. (6)
ST 88832506 Castle Rings (name verified locally), is situated
at the west end of a narow steep-sided ridge at 750ft
(227.m) O.D.
The now tree and bush covered earthworks are roughly oval in
plan, measuring about 320.0m north-south by 200.0m
transversely, enclosing an internal area of 12.8 acres
(5.2ha).
The defences consist primarily of a very substantial ditch,
averaging 16.0m wide, and from 2.6m to 4.4m deep, with an inner
rampart of average 1.9m high internally and 8.0m wide. There is
a strong counter-scarp bank average 5.0m wide and ranging between
0.8m and 1.5m high externally on the north and east perimeter,
to 3.1m high externally on the south west, at which point, the
defences are so strong as to become bivallate in appearance.
Simple entrance gaps in the east and west sides appear to be
original; those on the north and south are comparatively narrow
and are apparently modern field entrances. The level interior
of the site is arable (at present under pasture) and has no
visible signs of occupation. There is no local knowledge of any
surface finds.
About 150.0m to the west, a linear earthwork crosses the ridge
in an almost parallel curve for 340.0m and terminates at the top
of steep natural slopes on the north and south. It is traceable
northwards through Crates Wood as a rampart 2.8m high (scarped
vertical on the east side to form a field boundary 1.8m high)
with a ditch 0.4m deep on the west side; southwards it is
visible across arable, as a plough spread bank 0.6m high, with
traces of a now ploughed-out ditch.
1:2500 AM Resurvey of 17.10.62 still correct. (7)
ST 888 251. Castle Rings, Donhead St Mary. Listed in gazetteer as a univallate hillfort covering 4.9ha. (8)
Castle Rings was surveyed by RCHME staff in 1989. See the archive report, of which the following is a summary, for further details:
Castle Rings is a univallate hillfort consisting of a rampart with an external ditch and counterscarp bank forming an ovoid circuit which encloses c 5.2ha. It is best preserved on its W side, immediately S of the entrance. There are 5 gaps in the defensive circuit, all but two of them relatively recent breaches. The larger gaps on the W and E sides are possibly the original entrances. The interior has been cultivated for a considerable length of time; Colt-Hoare's plan shows it to be divided into 3 fields. No evidence of field boundaries or any other internal features was noted during the survey. A modern plough lynchet surviving up to c 0.9m in height runs immediately within the inner face of the rampart for much of the circuit.
The plough-denuded remains of earthworks are visible in the arable field to the W of the hillfort. These consist of of a hollow c 80m in length flanked by an intermittent bank. This is aligned SW-NE running towards the W entrance. To the SW of this, a lynchet c0.5m in height runs for c 60m, again towards the W entrance.
A cross-ridge dyke c280m in length runs c280m to the W of, and follows the line of, the hillfort's defences. It is best preserved in the woodland to the NW of the hillfort, where it stands c 2m high and c 6m wide. The bank is immediately fronted to the W by a ditch c 3 - 5m wide and c 2 - 5m deep. (9)
A hoard of Durotrigian staters were found by use of a metal
detector on the site of the hillfort. The finder was subsequently
fined for plundering a scheduled site and the hoard purchased by
the British Museum. (10) |