More information : (SD 745355) Settlement (NR) (1)
'Portfield Camp', Whalley is an Iron Age promontory fort, circa
three and a half acres, with its man-made defences on the
northern side. Excavation revealed two phases of construction; the
first consisted of a rampart circa 13ft thick, retained at the front with a kerb of large stones set on edge, with no associated
ditch. In the next structural phase this rampart was levelled and
a new rampart was constructed 20ft further north at the break
of slope. This 20ft thick rampart was revetted front and rear
with stone and had a clay core. Beyond it was a berm 20ft wide
and beyond this a ditch 15-18ft wide. The outer defences consisted of a bank of sandy earth about 14ft wide with another
ditch beyond. Tyson during excavations in 1958 found a cobbled
pavement which comprised the entrance through the main rampart. In a layer of stones over this pavement a fragment of pottery was found tentatively identified as Romano-British mid second century AD.
In the summer of 1966 a Bronze Age Hoard was found by workman lying a pipeline through the fort. It consisted of two socketed axes, part of a gouge, parts of the hilt and blade of a tanged knife, another knife blade and a tanged stud. Also with these bronze implements was a gold bracelet and a gold lock-ring of an Irish type of the Dowris phase. The hoard, dated to the Middle or Late Bronze Age, is now in the British Museum.
Excavations in 1970-71, prior to the destruction of the centre
of the fort by a water trench, revealed a number of stone packed
post holes, which formed no coherent plan: there was no evidence
of occupation debris. Body sherds were found with waste flint
flakes. Some plain coarse sherds from Bronze Age biconical
vessels were also found. (2-7)
The feature appears to be a variation of an Iron Age promontory
fortress with ramparts on the north and east, the remainder being
defended by natural slopes.
Surveyed at 1:2500. (8)
Additional reference and list of sources. (9)
Summary of excavations 1960, 1970 and 1972. (10)
SD 745 355. Plane's Wood, Portfield. Listed in gazetteer as a multivallate hillfort covering 1.3ha. (11)
SD 7459 3551. Portifield hillfort. Scheduled RSM No 27676.
The enclosure measures a maximum of approx 165m NW-SE by 110m NE-SW
and appears so flat as to suggest it has been artificially levelled.
The defences have been considerably mutilated in modern times but
survive best at the NW corner adjacent to the steep declavity to the
W; they consist of an inner bank up to 1.5m high outside which is a
berm 6m wide. Beyond this berm is a ditch up to 6m wide, then a
second earthen bank 4m wide, then another ditch with a third earthen
bank beyond. Elsewhere this defensive system may not have been so
comprehensive and a single scarp, part natural, may have sufficed.
Indeed, an early 20th century survey of the hillfort shows an
earthwork a short distance down the hillslope on the monument's S
side. Excavation has shown the site to have evidence of human
activity from the Neolithic to the present day. (12)
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