More information : (TL 2612 3870) Arbury Banks (NR).(1)
An IA hill fort 300 by 220 yds consisting of the remains of a
bank and ditch which enclose an area of 12 1/2 acres. The
defences were formerly double on the NW and SE but are now
reduced to a single scarp. Entrances were on the NNW and SSE.
Now in poor condition. In 1820 Roman coins, RB pottery and a
bone "die" (contained in one of the vessels) were ploughed up in the area. Earlier excavations had revealed sherds, animal
bones, coins and and in the bank, human skulls. In Sept 1858
further excavations within the camp disclosed a number of
irregularly placed circular pits from 4-5ft in diameter and
depth, connected by passages. Finds included RB and Saxon sherds,
animal bones, a bone piercer and bone pin. It was also established
by trial trenches that the original form of the camp was oval. An
enamelled shield-shaped fibula had also been found here.(2-7)
Earthworks visible.(8,9)
Arbury Banks is a defended settlement, probably IA in origin,
rather than a Hill-fort. There is no trace of ditches and the rampart is best preserved on the SE side as a chalk bank, 1.7m high and 10.0m wide, for a distance of 60.0m. Elsewhere
ploughing has destroyed all evidence of the rampart, or has
reduced it to an outward-facing scarp, 2.5m in maximum height,
largely overgrown with scrub, and occupied by a later field
bank which accentuates its height.
There is no ground evidence of structures in the enclosed area
which is under stubble. No further finds have been made.
The air-photographs show an internal ditch, double on the south
side, and there is an outturned entrance through this on the
north side. On the north side also the line taken by the ditch
departs from that taken by the boundary field banks and it is
uncertain whether in this part the field banks represent
ramparts. Within the work are soil-marks and two sub-rectangular
enclosures of unknown age but probably later than the main work.
There are also other markings, ring-ditches and probable pits
(? barrow sites). Published 1:2500 survey revised.(10)
Arbury Banks. A partially bivallate fortification of ca.5 ha within which a number of domestic enclosures, numerous storage pits, and a probable Bronze Age barrow, can be seen as cropmarks. The possible barrow is defined by a broad circular ditch distinct from the narrower enclosure ditches. A possible road runs North across the site to an entrance at the North end. Storage pits occur in lines and groups.
(Aerial photographs looking towards the North, Jun-1964).(11) |