More information : Clare Camp. An irregular quadrangular camp with
double banks and ditches. The N side is the most complete; on
the E and SE sides only the inner bank remains. There are two
entrances, one in the N side and one in the E side. (1-4)
(Centred TL 76854585). On Lower Common, a field of permanent
pasture on a gentle east-facing slope, is a defensive
earthwork known locally as Clare Camp. It is D-shaped
measuring internally c 190.0m E-W by c 150.0m N-S.
There has been severe mutilation by quarrying on the west side
and by the incursion of gardens on the east and south side. The
interior appears to have been subdivided at a later date by a
series of banks to form enclosures. Footpaths crossing the
earthwork have broken down the defences in a number of places,
so that the position of the original entrance(s) cannot be
ascertained.
The extent of the mutilations is such that the form of the
defences is uncertain. Where best-preserved in the N and SW, an
earthen rampart, dry ditch and counterscrap outer bank is
discernible (See sections). Along the northern edge of the
earthwork is a sunken lane which may be on the line of an outer
ditch.
There have been no excavations in Clare Camp to establish
period, but its general appearance suggests an IA defensive
purpose.
Re-surveyed at 1:2500. (5)
In September to October 1993 the Cambridge office of RCHME carried out an analytical earthwork survey of the enclosure and associated features (6). In addition to the enclosure, the sites of a probable Medieval manorial complex (TL 74 NE 41), post-medieval pest houses (TL 74 NE 42) and a possible Medieval droveway (TL 74 NE 43), together with a number of later features were also recorded. At the time of survey the area lay under lightly grazed pasture, though the northern and western perimeter were obscured by hawthorn scrub, due to be removed as part of the management of the site.
No intensive archaeological fieldwork has been carried out at the site other than Hogg's survey of 1975 (6a).
The form and siting of the enclosure remain the best evidence for its date (6b). The survey demonstrated that the enclosure is stratigraphically the earliest feature on the site (earlier than the probable Medieval manorial complex), confirming the likelihood of its prehistoric origin. Though bivallate, the outer rampart is different in scale and may be a re-fortification possibly of early Medieval date, given the presence of the manorial remains. Two probable original entrances were identified: on the east, where the terminals of the bank are off-set, and on the south at the slight angle change midway along the straight side of the 'D'. This conclusion was subsequently re-inforced by geophysical prospection carried out by the Ancient Monuments Laboratory, which revealed possible in-turned ditches at the eastern entrance and a causeway at the southern one (6c).
For further details, see RCHME Level 3 client report and plan at 1:1000 scale, held in archive. (6)
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