More information : (SJ 3031 7357) Fort (NR) Earthwork (NR). (1)
SJ 303 736. Burton Point today stands as a cliff over-looking salt marshes, but was a headland in the Dee estuary at the time before the 18th-century New Cut brought the river further to the SW.
The remains of an earthwork encircle the tip of the Point, forming roughly a 60 degree arc of a circle. There is a single rampart, standing 15' high at its highest point, with a ditch outside, which, at its lowest point, is 6' below the ground level of the field beyond. The length of ditch remaining is 210' between the cliff-face to the west and that to the south-east. A path leads through the rampart from the NE, and this may well be the original entrance.
The earthwork was undoubtedly larger than at present; it has been reduced by erosion and by quarrying.
Originally, it may well have been an Iron Age Promontory Fort, having a single rampart and ditch, with a simple entrance and no outlying defences. It may, however, be a Dark Age Celtic Fort, as no other prehistoric fortification is known in Wirral, and the parish name Burton may be derived from `Burh-tun'. (2)
Visited, November 1950, by Prof A W Lawrence, who thinks it is quarry upcast - overburden before starting a quarry. (3)
The earthwork, which is clearly defensive, is situated on ground sloping to the south-west. The area defined by the former seaward scarping and the short radius of the remaining defences indicate that the enclosed area was never very large. For this reason it is doubtful whether the earthworks are Iron Age and it is more likely that they are post Roman. The rather uneven cutting of the ditch and its apparent lack of silting tend to confirm a post Roman date. The bank and ditch may have formed part of the bailey of a motte, but no historical reference to a castle here has been found.
A 25" survey has been made. (4)
Survey of 24.2.61 still correct. (5)
The `fort' is surely the burh which gave a name to Burton in Anglo-Saxon times. (6)
SJ 3033 7356. Earthwork, as described by Jermy (Authority 2). It has the appearance of an eroded promontory fort of the Iron Age.
Published survey, 1:2500 revised. (7)
SJ 3033 7356. Promontory fort on Burton Point, 550m SW of Burton Point Farm. Scheduled, RSM No 25695. The single rampart stands up to 5m high and is 12m wide at its base. It curves around to form a 50 degree angle for 68m and encloses a triangular tip of the promontory. The external ditch is 2m deep. Both ends of the defences have been truncated by erosion and quarrying. A trackway has been pushed through the defences on the SE side leading down to the present quarry floor below the fort. This is 6m wide and has further degraded the earthworks. The area enclosed by the rampart is 0.9ha in extent and is sufficient for a single farmstead. Although apparently an Iron Age promontory fort, the small size and coastal location of the monument seem more akin to the cliff forts of the Welsh coast and Isle of Man. Some of the latter were the farmsteads of Scandinavian local dignitaries, although the type dates from the Iron age through to the early medieval period.
Close to the fort a cemetery including the remains of 50 or 60 undated burials were excavated in 1878. These lacked grave goods and may have been early Christian in date. They may also have been the remains of a boat crew of 41 drowned in 1637 and recorded in the parish register (see SJ 37 SW 1). At present there is no evidence that they were associated with the occupation of the fort. (8) |