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The comprehensive gazetteer and bibliography of the medieval castles, fortifications and palaces of England, Wales, the Islands.
 
 
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Stourton Park Hill

In the civil parish of Stourton With Gasper.
In the historic county of Wiltshire.
Modern Authority of Wiltshire.
1974 county of Wiltshire.
Medieval County of Wiltshire.

OS Map Grid Reference: ST76363473
Latitude 51.11137° Longitude -2.33906°

Stourton Park Hill has been described as a Timber Castle but is rejected as such.

There are earthwork remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

Description

An IA fort of two-period construction, situated at a height of about 213m OD, on a narrow Greensand ridge with steep slopes on the north east and south west.
The first occupation phase is represented by the outer work which comprises a substantial rampart, outer ditch and counterscarp bank (see sections) enclosing an area of 2.3 hectares. There are two entrances : one on the north west side (damaged by a later track), the other at the south east corner (bisected by an old boundary bank).
The inner work is D-shaped in plan with sharp north west and south west angles. It measures internally 130m north west-south east by 98m transversely, enclosing an area of 1 hectare. The rampart measures 8m in width and a maximum of 1m in height; the external, rather flat-bottomed ditch is 6m wide and varies between 0.3m and 1.2m deep.
The uneven appearance of the bank and ditch, particularly on the south west side, leaves little doubt that the second phase is unfinished. There is an 'off-set' entrance in the south east side. The interior is featureless. The site is covered by trees, but is otherwise in good condition.
The topographical situation, on a heavily wooded narrow Greensand ridge, together with the general plan and 'off-set' entrance, are reminiscent of the Wealden fort at Hammer Wood, Iping, Sussex. (PastScape)

There be 4. campes that servid menne of warre aboute Stourton, one towarde the northe weste parte withyn the park doble dichid. I conjecte that heere stode a {ma}ner place or castelle. My Lorde {Stourton} sayith nay. (Leland)
Comments

An Iron Age hillfort with no suggestion, other than Leland's, of medieval use.
Links to archaeological and architectural databases, mapping and other online resources

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Sources of information, references and further reading
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The bibliography owes much to various bibliographies produced by John Kenyon for the Council for British Archaeology, the Castle Studies Group and others.
Suggestions for finding online and/or hard copies of bibliographical sources can be seen at this link.
Minor archaeological investigations, such as watching brief reports, and some other 'grey' literature is most likely to be held by H.E.R.s but is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded here, or elsewhere, but some suggestions can be found here.
The possible site or monument is represented on maps as a point location. This is a guide only. It should be noted that OS grid references defines an area, not a point location. In practice this means the actual center of the site or monument may often, but not always, be to the North East of the point shown. Locations derived from OS grid references and from latitude longitiude may differ by a small distance.
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This record last updated 26/07/2017 09:21:28

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