More information : (SJ 681178) Wall (NAT) Camp (NR) (1)
'The Wall' is an irregular enclosure of about thirty acres, its
form being governed by the rising ground on which it stands. The
rampart is generally 10 ft high from the interior, although partially
damaged by ploughing. There was probably an entrance on the
south-west side which is protected by two additional banks. Elsewhere
the marshy ground provides a natural defence, except on the north
side, where there are also two additional ramparts. (2)
Kinnersley Wall. The marsh is now drained. The rampart is 45 ft
wide, 4 to 6 ft high internally and 8 ft high externally, destroyed
on the north-west side. There is a ditch 450 ft long outside the
bank on the west. On the north-east the bank curves slightly on the
inner side and protrudes in the form of a tongue on the outside for
a distance of 200 ft. At the end of this, but independent of it,
another rampart 7 ft high runs almost parallel to the first. (3)
Kinnersley Wall. A hill fort enclosing a natural island in the
marsh. The rampart is of rubble and boulder clay (a). Its stone
retaining walls are being removed by the farmer. (4)
Excavations by the Wrekin Archaeological Group, 1962-5, produced
no dating evidence but showed that the main bank is of at least four periods. (5-8)
Wall IA multivallate fort is situated upon a natural rise of
ground, little more than two or three metres above the surrounding
low-lying ground, once marsh land.
The earthwork is boot-shaped in plan, the toe pointing to the WNW.
It measures, internally, 400.0m WNW-ESE, and the same transversely,
but only 300.0m NNW-SSE. The inner rampart is largely intact though,
(except where its summit is occupied by a modern road along the NW
side, causing it to have a truncated appearance), much spread and
lowered by constant ploughing. It averages 25.0m in width and from
0.6m on the S to 1.5m on the N in height. There is a 6.0m wide
entrance, inturned on its N side, at the SE corner. Opposite, 70.0m
distant, is a low ridge of ground crossing the former marsh southwardsto higher ground at Buttery Cottages, and probably the original route to the fort.
A break, 4.0m wide, in the W side, with apparent inturning on the
N, may be a secondary entrance but could equally be a modern gap,
being adjacent to the road.
The outer defences are strongest to the NW, where the ground is
fractionally higher than to the SE, and may, seasonally, have been
less wet. They comprise five banks,from 6.0 to 12.0m in width, and
from 0.5 to 1.0m in height. The outermost bank, and the
strongest, probably encircled the site except on the SE side, but
long stretches of it have been destroyed on the NW and W. Of the
four intermediate banks, only one is sufficiently complete to show
that it encircled at least the N half of the site. The other banks
are fragmentary but all cover the NW side in whole or in part.
An unusual feature, on the NE, is a broad bank of about the same
proportions as the inner rampart, which links the inner rampart with
the larger of the intermediate banks and then, after a short break,
extends to join up with the outer bank. A break in the inner slope
of the inner rampart opposite this feature (? a ramp) suggests
that it was a causewayed entrance, the ditch perhaps having been
bridged in some way in times of peace.
Published 1:2500 survey, 1961-68, revised. (9)
Excavations were carried out in 1983 in the interior of this enclosure. The remains of circular and rectangular four-post structures were revealed. Radiocarbon determinations and artefactual material indicate occupation of the site from the 3rd century BC until prior to the Roman conquest. (10)
SJ 679 178. Wall, Kinnersley. Listed in gazetteer as a multivallate hillfort covering 12.0ha. (11)
SJ 681 178. Wall camp on Weald Moor. Scheduled. (12)
SJ 68091778. The remains of a large, low-lying multivallate hillfort on the Weald Moors. The defensive earthworks enclose an area of around 12 hectares, suggesting that it was the settlement of a very large community. The defences consist of multiple banks separated by ditches, with the inner rampart defining a heart-shaped area. The inner rampart is surrounded by a complex series of outer earthworks, large sections of which seem to have been remodelled at some stage in order to increase the lines of defence. An excavation undertaken in 1983 revealed the remains of circular buildings associated with rectangular post built structures. Local and non-local pottery of Iron Age date was recovered, along with a blue glass bead with white spiral decoration. Scheduled. (13)
The earthwork remains of Wall Fort described above were visible on lidar images. The lidar survey appears to reveal more detail than indicated by the OS mapping of the outer-most earthwork ramparts to the north and south of the fort. (14) |