Eddisbury Hill Fort
| Eddisbury hill fort | |
| Cheshire | |
|---|---|
 Eddisbury hill fort from the west | |
| Type: | Hill fort |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SJ553694 |
| Location: | 53°13’13"N, 2°40’13"W |
| History | |
| Built Iron Age | |
| Information | |
Eddisbury Hill Fort, also known as Castle Ditch, is an Iron Age hill fort near Delamere in Cheshire. This is the largest and most complex of the few hill forts in the county of Cheshire. It was constructed before 200–100 BC and expanded in 1–50 AD. In the 1st century AD, the Romans slighted the site. It was reoccupied in the 6th–8th centuries AD, and an Anglo-Saxon burh was probably established at Eddisbury in 914. In the mediæval and post-mediæval periods quarrying and farming have damaged the site.
Ownership is currently split between the Forestry Commission and a local farm. Eddisbury is protected as a Scheduled Ancient Monument.[1]
Location and layout
Although there are thousands of hill forts in Britain, there are few in Cheshire.[2] Eddisbury is the largest and most complex of the Cheshire hill forts.[3] The forts form two geographical groups of three, with Maiden Castle on its own in the south of the county; Eddisbury hill fort is in the southern group with Kelsborrow Castle and Oakmere Hill Fort.
Eddisbury Hill, in common with all of the hill forts in Cheshire, sits on part of the central ridge that runs north–south through the county.[3] The fort follows the contours of its hill and measures 200 by 400 yards. It is surrounded by two ramparts with a ditch in between. The ditch is ten yards wide and two feet deep. The inner bank lies between.[1]
History
There is evidence of Bronze Age activity at Eddisbury.[4] Before 250 BC, a palisade was erected on Eddisbury Hill. The first hill fort was built in 200–100 BC.[1]
Eddisbury hill fort has two main archaeological phases. In the first phase of activity, the site was defended by a single rampart and ditch; this type of hill fort is termed "univallate". The settlement was concentrated on the eastern part of the fort's hill. During the second phase, the fort extended westwards, occupying the entire hill top, and the defences were enhanced through the addition of more ramparts and ditches.[3] The enclosed area expanded from five and half acres to seven acres, and the defences covered fifteen and a half acres; six acres more than previously. There are two theories about the expansion of the fort: either the growth westwards and the extended defences were completed at the same time or that they were separate events. If they happened at the same time it is likely to have been in the interest of making the site easier to defend. If they were separate, the ramparts may have been extended to incorporate an entrance at the western end of the site.[5] The expansion phase dated to 1–50 AD.[1]
In the late 1st century AD, the hill fort was destroyed (slighted) by the Romans.[4][3] In the 4th–6th centuries AD, the hill fort was reoccupied and huts were built over the inner rampart. A later hut, dating from the 6th–8th centuries, has also been discovered. Eddisbury has been suggested as the site of an Anglo-Saxon burh built in 914 by Æthelflæd, daughter of Alfred the Great, and recorded in the Mercian Register in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle but this has been queried.[7]
In the Middle Ages and later, the south-east part of the site was inhabited, at one point being used as a forester's lodge. The centre of the fort has been cultivated since at least the 19th century, still undergoes ploughing, and was used as a quarry.
Eddisbury was excavated between 1935 and 1938 by W. J. Varley, who also undertook excavations at Maiden Castle nearby,[8] as part of his investigation into the origin of Cheshire's hill forts.[3] The structure was made a Scheduled Ancient Monument in 1995, giving Eddisbury protection against unauthorised change.[1] The eastern entrance was re-excavated by the Habitats and Hillforts Project in 2010, finds including sling stones and a saddle quern. The excavated walls were partially reconstructed and remain visible.[9]
The site has been assessed as being "at high risk" due to ploughing on the site, causing erosion. Five of Cheshire's seven hill forts have been assessed as being "at high risk". Although the western and northern parts of Eddisbury are owned by the Forestry Commission, the rest of the site is part of Old Pale Farm.
In fiction
Eads Byrig is a burh that is fought over in Bernard Cornwell's novel Warriors of the Storm.
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References
- ↑ Jump up to: 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 National Heritage List 1013295: Eddisbury hillfort east of Old Pale Farm (Scheduled ancient monument entry)
- ↑ Forde-Johnston 1962, p. 13–14.
- ↑ Jump up to: 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Forde-Johnston 1962, p. 23.
- ↑ Jump up to: 4.0 4.1 "Iron Age hillfort at Eddisbury", Revealing Cheshire's Past (Cheshire East and Cheshire West and Chester councils), http://rcp.cheshire.gov.uk/SingleResult.aspx?uid=MCH8266, retrieved 25 September 2018
- ↑ Forde-Johnston 1962, p. 25.
- ↑ Pope, Rachel; Mason, Richard; Hamilton, Derek; Rule, Eddie; Swogger, John (2020). "Hillfort gate-mechanisms: a contextual, architectural reassessment of Eddisbury, Hembury, and Cadbury hillforts" (in en). Archaeological Journal 177 (2): 457. doi:10.1080/00665983.2019.1711301. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00665983.2019.1711301.
- ↑ Sharp, Tony (2013). "The Foundation of the Chester Burh in the Tenth Century: When and by Whom?". https://www.academia.edu/23658846/The_Foundation_of_the_Chester_Burh_in_the_Tenth_Century_When_and_by_Whom.
- ↑ Forde-Johnston 1962, p. 26.
- ↑ Eddisbury Hill: the reconstructed eastern entrance, Habitats and Hillforts Project, 2010
- Forde-Johnston, James (1962), "The Iron Age Hillforts of Lancashire and Cheshire", Transactions of the Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society 72: 9–46
- Payne, Andrew; Corney, Mark; Cunliffe, Barry (2007), The Wessex Hillforts Project: Extensive Survey of Hillfort Interiors in Central Southern England, English Heritage, ISBN 978-1-873592-85-4, http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/ConWebDoc.10744
- Sharples, Niall M (1991), English Heritage Book of Maiden Castle, London: B. T. Batsford, ISBN 0-7134-6083-0
Further reading
- Varley, William Jones (1936), "Recent investigations into the origins of Cheshire hill-forts", Transactions of the Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society 51: 51–59
- Varley, William Jones (1950), "Excavations of the castle ditch, Eddisbury, 1935–1938", Transactions of the Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire 102: 1–68