Perborough Castle
| Perborough Castle | |
| Berkshire | |
|---|---|
 Perborough Castle, rampart top right | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SU520779 |
| Location: | 51°29’53"N, 1°15’4"W |
| Village: | Compton |
| History | |
| Built Iron Age | |
| Information | |
Perborough Castle is the site of an Iron Age univallate hillfort located at Compton in Berkshire. The site covers approximately 14 acres, and lies on the chalky Berkshire Downs in the west of the county. Archaeological evidence, from excavations in 1838, suggest that it was a lightly defended and perhaps a seasonally occupied site, containing no more than a few grain storage pits and slag pits, the extent of these being the obvious sign of continued occupation.[1][2]
The Compton area had a sizeable community in the bronze-age and there are many other banks and field systems evident in the surrounding downs.
Today, the earthwork ditches and ramparts are not well defined, whether this was the original design, or more the result of deterioration over time is not clear, since the site is currently farmland and has been heavily ploughed.[3]
Location
The site is on Cow Down between the villages of Compton and Hampstead Norreys. It is at a level of between 440 feet and 475 feet above sea level. The summit of the hill on which it is found, an unnamed hill, is a small distance away to the north-west, at 525 feet above sea level.
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Perborough Castle) |
References
- ↑ "Castles of England: Perborough Castle". http://www.castlesofengland.co.uk/southeast/perborough.php.
- ↑ http://www.britarch.ac.uk/ba/ba39/ba39news.html British Archaeology, Issue no 39, November 1998
- ↑ The Modern Antiquarian: Perborough Castle