More information : [Centred at SU 32605415] INTRENCHMENT [O.E.] (1)
Enclosing "Bury Field" is a small, oval woodland ringwork of 3
3/4 acres, called in an 18th cent. account, as Bevisbury.
It has been much mutilated, chalk pits having been dug in two
or three places, and rubbish having been tipped into the ditch
near the keeper's lodge; on the S. side, and on the E. to the
left of the road, the bank is in fair preservation. It averages
c.4' above the area and 9' above the bottom of the ditch.
It is pre-Roman, for the Roman Road [Winchester-Wanborough, RR
43] cuts straight through, ignoring the original entrances,
which appear to have been at the N.E. & S.W. sides, along the
line of the ridge. The entrances are slightly incurved.
The soil is clay on chalk, and the earthwork is covered with
wood. There are remains of an old pond in the ditch at the
south. (2-3)
Bevisbury, an I.A. 'A' plateau-fort, consists of a single bank
with an outer ditch. It is very badly mutilated and is intact
only on the S.E. side. An interruption in the bank and ditch,
at the east, is probably an original entrance; there is no
evidence of inturning.
The northern and north-western sides of the earthwork have been
almost destroyed by old chalk workings, but the general line of
the ditch can be made out. Around the S.W. there is the
appearance of a berm between the ditch and the (here, feeble)
bank: this may be original, but it seems more likely that the
original bank has been destroyed (as it has along the whole of
the rest of the western half of the earthwork) and a later
boundary bank constructed. Where this bank appears to inturn
(regarded as an original entrance in T.2) there is no
corresponding break in the ditch.
Nothing was seen in the enclosed area; the south-western part
is a yound fir plantation, and the N.E. forms the grounds of
a house, the occupier of which knows nothing of any finds being
made. (4)
Description of 25.11.55 still correct; published 1/2500 revised. (5)
SU 32605415 'Bevisbury' (a), name not locally known (b), a
univallate earthwork, situated on an almost level hilltop at
730ft (221.0m) OD. It is slightly oval in plan, 150m NE/SW by
116.0m transversely, enclosing an internal area of 1.7ha.
The bank and outer ditch has been either destroyed or heavily
mutilated by old chalk workings on all but the SE side, it is here
well preserved, and extends for about 160.0 metres under dense
tree cover. The overall measurement of the bank and ditch is
17.0m. The rampart averages 1.3m high internally and rises to a
maximum of 2.8m above the bottom of the silted ditch, which now
averages 1.0m deep.
An interruption in the bank and ditch at the east (SU 32675415)
may indicate a probable simple original causewayed entrance;
there is no evidence of inturning. The suggested NE and SW entrance
positions (2) cannot be verified.
A later (? modern) weak boundary bank has been constructed along or
near the course of the now destroyed W half of the rampart, creating
the appearance of a berm between the partly traceable line of ditch
and slight bank. This berm may possibly represent an ? original
feature.
The NE portion of the level interior is now occupied by a modern
lodge and garden; elsewhere it is covered by dense woodland. No
finds are known from the site.
The existing remains of the earthwork, have the typical appearance of
a defended hilltop settlement, of probable Iron Age date/construction.
1:2500 revision of 22 1 66 still correct; detail transferred to
MSD. (6)
SU 326541. Berisbury
(sic) camp - scheduled. (7)
SU 326 541. Bevisbury. Listed in gazetteer as a univallate hillfort covering 1.4ha. (8) |