Hardwell Castle
| Hardwell Castle | |
|
Berkshire | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Earthworks of Hardwell Castle | |
| Type: | Hill fort |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SU287867 |
| Location: | 51°34’42"N, 1°35’14"W |
| History | |
| Built Iron Age | |
| Information | |
Hardwell Castle or Hardwell Camp is an Iron Age valley fort by Compton Beauchamp in the Vale of White Horse in Berkshire.
The site of the fort is very close to Compton Beauchamp and also to Knighton; two miles from Uffington and one mile from the hilltop fort known as Uffington Castle.
The site
Like nearby Cherbury Camp, Hardwell Castle is not clearly in a strategic or easily defended position. It lies halfway down the scarp slope of the White Horse Hills and is tucked away in a curve, invisible from most angles. This particular positioning suggests its builders had a specialist purpose in mind, although exactly what that may have been remains a mystery. It is 'multi-vallate', like Cherbury Camp. It is unexcavated and therefore very little is known about it.
The site is described as a promontory fort by Historic England, and is a Scheduled Monument.[1]
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Hardwell Castle) |
References
- ↑ National Heritage List 1017820: Hardwell Camp promontory fort (Scheduled ancient monument entry)