Grimsbury Castle
| Grimsbury Castle | |
| Berkshire | |
|---|---|
 View of the eastern side | |
| Type: | Hill fort |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SU511722 |
| Location: | 51°26’50"N, 1°15’58"W |
| Village: | Hermitage |
| History | |
| Built Iron Age | |
| Information | |
Grimsbury Castle is an Iron Age "multiple enclosure" hill fort within Grimsbury Wood, between Cold Ash and Hermitage in Berkshire. It comprises a large circular encampment on a high hill.
The site is a scheduled ancient monument.[1]
History
The site benefits from a natural spring which reportedly has never been known to run dry. The entrenchment would appear to have been extended on the south side of the hill for the purpose of enclosing this spring. This rampart appears to have had only two entrances, one on the north and the other on the south side; just within the entrenchment, at the entrance on the north, is a small tumulus, which may have been constructed as a mount for observation or defence, or for the purpose of interment.[2]
The name reflects that of a number of earthworks in the southern counties, where later Saxon settlers in the region attributed mighty earthworks to Woden, the chief of their gods, also known as ‘Grim’.[3]
The site lies at an elevation of 510 feet above sea level amongst the Berkshire Downs. There is an 18th-century folly on the site, also known as Grimsbury Castle.
Today the site is crossed by a small, single-track roadway.
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Grimsbury Castle) |
References
- ↑ National Heritage List 1006983: Grimsbury Castle (Scheduled ancient monument entry)
- ↑ Grimsbury Castle: The Modern Antiquarian
- ↑ "RBH: History of Grimsbury Castle, Hermitage, Berkshire". http://www.berkshirehistory.com/castles/grimsbury_castle.html.