More information : (TQ 13931206) Camp (G.T.) (1)
TQ 139120 Chanctonbury - Univallate 'A' Hill Fort under 3 acres
enclosed. Excavations in 1909.(2-3)
An IA 'A' univallate hill fort situated in a very commanding position
upon the local highest point of the South Downs, and immediately overlooking precipitous natural slopes on the NW and NE sides.
The rampart and outer ditch are largely extant on the S side, but
to the N natural erosion and soil creep have reduced the earthworks
to a lynchet-like slope with traces only of the ditch below here and there.
The original entrance was probably to the SE close to the edge of the
escarpment. There are remains of a causeway over the ditch. A gap through the rampart on the SW side has no signs of a causeway before
it and is probably a later mutilation.
Apart from a couple of small quarries dug into the rampart, the work
is in fairly good condition. The site is covered with a prominent
clump of full-grown trees. No internal features were recognisable.
Published 1/2500 survey revised. (4)
Three areas inside the hillfort were excavated in advance of
tree-planting and a section cut through the defences. The
construction of the hillfort was dated by pottery to the Early
Iron Age. (5)
Excavations within the hillfort in 1977 suggests the rampart and initial occupation belong to the Early Iron Age (c.6th to 4th centuries BC) (A C14 date of 370bc was obtained from animal bone). In addition, there was evidence for Neolithic and Bronze Age activity but not settlement.
The pottery record suggests abandonment of the site from the 4th century BC. In the mid-1st century AD. During the Roman period the rectangular temple (see TQ 11 SW 2) occupied the centre of the enclosure, and the rampart may have been refurbished. At least one of the two nearby cross ridged sykes (TQ 11 SW 22) appears to be of Roman date also. Pottery and other finds within the hillfort suggest that the temple was no longer in use by the end of the 3rd century AD. No evidence found for the existence of the `curious pear-shaped structure' allegedly uncovered in 1909. (6)
Additional references. (7-11) |