CHAPTER II

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FORTIFIED HILL-TOPS

This class of fortress is illustrated by numerous examples in the British Isles, many of which possess a very high order of merit. Class I. is generally found associated with coast line or rivers with precipitous banks; Class II. deals almost entirely with inland elevations which, while having some natural advantages in the way of steep ground or other defences of an inaccessible character, rely chiefly upon the artificial additions which have been made to the natural ones. With such a wealth of illustration it is somewhat difficult to select examples, but those described may perhaps be typical of every variety to be found in the kingdom. These camps of the plateau type were the commonest prevailing before the Norman Conquest, and for every great fortress like Cissbury, Maiden Castle, Dolebury, or Bradbury there were hundreds of smaller examples.

These latter were, as a rule, much more liable to destruction by the plough, being slightly constructed and generally at no great elevation above the mean level of the land; the farmer, ever in search of good rich earth, turned with avidity to the great banks of loose soil placed ready to hand, and hence the destruction of small camps has been excessive. The great fortresses, with their steep scarps, have defied the ploughman, and to this we may ascribe the excellent preservation they generally present.

These contour forts are undoubtedly an advance upon the earlier promontory type and show an adaptation to the requirements of advancing civilisation, pointing to coalescence and centralisation of hitherto-divided communities, the protection of a settled area, and the guarding of trade-routes. Hence they indicate the presence of larger numbers and the possession of greater wealth.

Hembury Fort, Honiton.—This is by far the most wonderful example of the class to be found in Devonshire. It stands at a height of nearly 900 feet above sea-level and encloses a space of approximately 8 acres in extent. Double valla, and their accompanying fosses, surround the whole camp, the crest of the inner vallum averaging from 50 to 60 feet above the bed of its fosse. To these formidable defences a third vallum has been added, surrounding it upon every side except the east where it was deemed unnecessary. It is prehistoric and probably British, but up to the present time has not been excavated.

Ham Hill in the south-east part of Somersetshire is a high mass of rock standing detached from the neighbouring hills. The wonderful trenches, too numerous to mention in detail, show a very high order of military skill in fortification, and this is the more remarkable when we discover that Neolithic man was probably answerable for their construction, although the fort has been subsequently occupied by men of the Bronze Age, and also by the Romans.

South Cadbury lies five miles north of Sherborne. It is a huge and extremely formidable fortress standing at a height of over 500 feet above sea-level, and possessing no less than four lines of massive ramparts, steeply scarped, some of them even penetrating into the hard oolitic rock. There are two entrances into the large space enclosed by the ramparts, and in each case protective mounds have been erected defending them.

MAIDEN CASTLE, WEST ENTRANCE.

Maiden Castle, about two miles from Dorchester (Dorset), easily holds the premier place among the fortified camps of Great Britain, not only on account of its vast extent and the cyclopean character of its works, but also by reason of the marvellous military ingenuity displayed in its construction. Our general conception of the intellectual calibre of

PEVENSEY CASTLE, SUSSEX.

primitive man forcibly undergoes an alteration when contemplating the colossal schemes which his brain was capable of producing and his hand had the power of carrying into effect.

MAIDEN CASTLE, EAST ENTRANCE.

The area enclosed is no less than 45 acres, while the whole fort occupies a space of 115 acres. The circumference of this vast work measures one and a half miles, and three enormous valla and fosses stretch this distance; in many places the crest of a vallum above the fosse beneath it amounts to 60 feet. But perhaps our chief admiration is evoked by the complex arrangement, by means of which the two entrances into the fort are protected. A glance at the plans illustrating these will at once show that fortified mounds and bastions of the most complicated forms are placed so as to impede the progress of stormers, and there can be no doubt that every means of protection known at the time were interposed between them and the besieged.

Fig. 1. STOCKADE OF STONE AND RUBBLE, WITH PALISADE OF WOOD.

And here perhaps we may mention that the defences of an ancient earthwork can hardly be judged adequately at the present time without imagining the subsidiary structures which once crowned the works. These auxiliary aids cannot with certainty be described, because of the perishable character which generally signalised them, and the very meagre references which occur in the most ancient of our writers. It is generally accepted by authorities upon the subject that some stockade or other defence was invariably added to the summit of a rampart, and that this depended in character upon the nature of the country. In districts where stone was abundant, uncemented walls of large blocks were erected, generally with battering surfaces, the hollow portion between the two faces being filled up with earth or rubble as in Fig. 1. More primitive still would be the single wall with a bank of retaining earth behind it for support (Fig. 2), while more complicated would be one strengthened by a central core of masonry (Fig. 3). Remains of these walls have been found in various places still in situ. It is quite possible that a palisade of sharpened stakes or of wattle surmounted these stone walls, thus still further adding to their efficiency. In a "soft" country, where only earth or chalk is available, timber would naturally take the place of stone. The Gallic defences of this nature, which gave so much trouble to Caesar's legions, appear to have been made of tree-trunks lying side by side upon the ground with the second course of trunks superposed at right angles, the whole of the interstices being filled with stones and earth tightly rammed (Fig. 4). It will readily be perceived that a rampart constructed of alternate courses similar to this, and approximately 10 feet in thickness and of considerable height, would be quite impervious to the missile weapons of the period, and indestructible by fire, even if the assailants succeeded in filling up the deep vallum below the base of the wall with combustible materials. Whether this method of the utilisation of timber for barricades was ever introduced into the British Isles for strengthening valla we have no means of ascertaining, owing to the perishable nature of the defence, but considering that the ancient Britons were of undoubted Celtic origin, we are perhaps justified in assuming it. On the other hand, a row of thick vertical planks driven deeply into the soil and placed closely together upon the summit of a rampart would prove a very formidable obstacle after surmounting 60 feet of steep escarpment under a hail of missiles. The small mounds so often placed as defences near the entrances of fortified hill-tops were clearly intended for a ring of palisades upon their summits, and isolated bastions similarly placed were doubtless treated in the same manner.

Fig. 2. SIMPLE STOCKADE OF STONE AND EARTH, RETAINED BY WOODEN STAKES.

Fig. 3. STONE STOCKADE, WITH INNER CORE OF MASONRY.

Fig. 4. WOODEN PALISADE OF TREE-TRUNKS, STRENGTHENED WITH EARTH.

There are no less than five lines of defence upon the south and south-east of Maiden Castle, and a feature of the work is the large amount of room provided upon the summits of the valla to afford accommodation for great bodies of defenders to stand and use their weapons.

Badbury Rings, four miles N.W. of Wimborne.—This may be classed among the greater hill fortresses inasmuch as it encloses a space of 18 acres and is furnished with three valla and their accompanying ditches. The scarps are in places very steep and 40 feet above the fosses. The eastern entrance is reminiscent of Maiden Castle, a bastion-like obstruction being thrown forward to obstruct ingress, while the great area of standing-room provided for the defenders may be looked upon as characteristic of west country forts as it is repeated in a number of others—Cadbury Castle, near Tiverton, and Shoulsbury on Exmoor, for examples. In the outer area a mound occurs, and ponds also have been formed within the fort. Investigations have brought Celtic antiquities to light and also proved its occupation by the Romans. It affords a magnificent prospect from the summit. In historic times it has been utilised, as in A.D. 901 Æthelwald the Ætheling mustered his men there after Alfred's death, upon the occasion of a popular rising.

BADBURY RINGS, DORSET.

Cadbury Castle.—This is a good example of a contour fort crowning an isolated hill 800 feet in height. Upon three sides are formidable natural precipices, and the ramparts enclose an oval inner space, which is approximately level. The valla are continuous except upon the south, where a scarped drop occurs of about 30 feet to the level of a wide berm, on the outside of which a gigantic rampart rises to the height of more than 20 feet above the berm.

THE BERM OF CADBURY CASTLE.

Cissbury, north of Worthing.—This great fortress was constructed by men of the Flint Age, and indubitable proofs of its occupancy by a permanent population engaged in a staple trade are afforded by the immense remains of flint chippings within its area, the product of many generations of flint-knappers. The deep and wide pits within it were dug for the purpose of obtaining flints, the raw material of their industry, and these excavations were subsequently utilised for dwelling-places. The fort is advantageously situated upon the trading route between the inhabitants of the Great Forest of Anderida, covering the Weald of Sussex, and the maritime population of the southern littoral; and this fact appealed not only to Neolithic man but also the men of the Bronze and Iron Ages, who occupied it in succession. It is a camp of the plateau type with an inner vallum rising nearly 50 feet above the fosse and 20 above the inner area. General Pitt Rivers estimated that 5000 men would be required to man the ramparts effectually.

THE BEAUCHAMP TOWER, TOWER OF LONDON.

Ravensburgh Castle, Hexton, Herts.—The northern escarpment of the Chiltern Hills is marked by numerous deep ravines leading down with winding courses to the lowlands. This has the effect of leaving bold bluffs of chalk standing up between them, and upon one of these this remarkably fine hill fortress is placed. In addition to the two ravines lying at the sides it is still further isolated by a third running at right angles between the others. The castle occupies 16 acres of the western half of this plateau, and possesses double ramparts on three sides and triple on the north. The section AB shows the steep descent into the ravine upon the south side, and DE indicates the same, while clearly showing the three lines of defence formed by the two ditches. The scarps are remarkable for their clean and smooth surfaces, the chalk presenting the appearance of having been cut with a huge knife. The entrances into the defence lie at nearly 500 feet above the sea-level.

RAVENSBURGH CASTLE, HEXTON, HERTS.

One of the most prominent examples of the class is Mam Tor, a great hill rising to a height of 1700 feet above sea-level, and dominating Castleton and Edale, Derbyshire. Upon the summit of this eminence is a remarkable earthwork enclosing about 16 acres of land, round which the original rampart must have been nearly three-quarters of a mile in length. Natural defences of a very marked character are upon two sides of the triangular enclosure, consisting of steep slopes which descend for a considerable distance. Upon the summit of these slopes two formidable ramparts with an accompanying fosse have been constructed, thus adding still further to an almost unassailable position. The agricultural inhabitants of the district often term it "The Shivering Mountain" from the many little avalanches of shale which are dislodged from its sides. Upon the northern part the natural defences are not so apparent, as the ridge of an adjoining hill approaches at that point. An entrance to the Fort occurs there at the present time, as shown in the plan, but not in its primitive condition. The only method of entering was by means of the narrow passage shown at the S.W., defended by a fortified mound at its inner mouth, which in turn was defended by a larger mound lying to the N.W. A small spring of water still rises within the enclosure and escapes through the N.W. break. The interior has not been levelled, and a central spine of rock traverses it from north to south. Undoubtedly Mam Tor furnishes us with one of the finest examples of a fortified hilltop to be found in England.

MAM TOR, DERBYSHIRE.

The following are a few instances of artificial defences which, although they stand upon higher ground than the surrounding land, are less dependent upon their elevated position.

Ambresbury Banks, Essex.—These banks are situated in Epping Forest, at the side of the road between Epping and London. They are of British origin, as has been definitely proved by excavations carried out by General Pitt Rivers and the Essex Field Club, thus definitely disproving the assertion previously prevailing of their supposed Roman origin. The outline approaches a square form, and this probably gave rise to the supposition. Only a few pieces of crude pottery and some flint chippings came to light during the excavations. A feature, however, was disclosed in the fosse, the lower part of which was originally of an angular section; in it a depth of silt approximating to 7 feet had accumulated. The scarp was inclined at an angle of 45°, and the counterscarp probably rose at almost the same angle; the width of the fosse was over 20 feet, and the depth above half that measurement.

HUNSBURY, NORTHAMPTONSHIRE.

Hunsbury, Northamptonshire.—This earthwork is about one and a half miles from Northampton, and may be cited as an example which falls naturally into this subdivision, inasmuch as the hill upon which it stands possesses such an easy slope that it does not tend to help to any marked extent the formidable defences upon the summit. These lie nearly 200 feet above the river Nen, and 370 feet above sea-level. It is a small enclosure, the single fosse of which is well preserved with the exception of a portion upon the north, which has been quarried for iron-stone, much in demand in that district. The defences were undoubtedly of great power originally, but have been much degraded; the interior of the camp has been ploughed, and the earthworks planted with trees. The original opening is that lying to the S.E. The name upon the Ordnance Survey is "Danes Camp," though upon what authority is not apparent. Camps of a very similar nature may be found at Ring Hill in Essex, and Badbury in Berks, while Whelpley Hill in Buckinghamshire is almost an exact replica.

YARNBURY, WILTS.

Yarnbury lies about three miles to the west of Winterbourne Stoke in Wiltshire and is allocated to this division, being one of the largest and best of its kind. The area enclosed is about 20 acres, encircled by three valla and two or three ditches. The inner rampart rises at times to over 50 feet above the fosse. There are a number of entrances, but only those to the east and west are original, each being defended with outworks, the eastern gate by bastions similar to those at Maiden Castle and Badbury Rings.

CORFE CASTLE, DORSETSHIRE.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

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