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138 hillfort facts, all checked

Every fact on this site in one place, each linked to its source. Our build checks each one against the source text; see the sources page. Things that can change carry the date we checked them, and where sources disagree you’ll find both.

Jump to: Hillforts in general | Parts of a hillfort | Life inside | Sites and stories | Visiting (dated) | The national curriculum

Hillforts in general

  1. 1 The Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland maps 4,147 sites, from well-preserved forts to ones where only crop marks are left. University of Edinburgh: Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland site launched
  2. 2 It was the first time the locations and details of all ancient hillforts in Britain and Ireland had been mapped and put on one website. University of Edinburgh: Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland site launched
  3. 3 The Atlas was made by researchers from the University of Edinburgh, the University of Oxford and University College Cork. University of Edinburgh: Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland site launched
  4. 4 Members of the public, “citizen scientists”, recorded the hillforts they visited, and the team added their records to the database. University of Edinburgh: Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland site launched
  5. 5 Despite the name, not all hillforts are on hills, and not all were forts in the military sense. University of Edinburgh: Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland site launched
  6. 6 Many may have been regional gathering places for festivals and trade, and some are on low-lying land. University of Edinburgh: Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland site launched
  7. 7 Hillforts were mostly built in the Iron Age: the oldest date to around 1000 BC and the most recent to about AD 700. University of Edinburgh: Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland site launched
  8. 8 Over 40% of the confirmed sites are in Scotland, and more than 25% in England. University of Edinburgh: Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland site launched
  9. 9 Wales has over 600 sites in the Atlas’s “definite” category, and Ireland nearly 350. University of Edinburgh: Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland site launched
  10. 10 The highest example is in County Kerry, followed by sites such as Ingleborough, South Barrule on the Isle of Man and Ben Griam Beg in Sutherland. University of Edinburgh: Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland site launched
  11. 11 The greatest densities of sites are in west and south Wales, much of southern Scotland, and Northumberland and Cornwall. University of Edinburgh: Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland site launched
  12. 12 Two of the very biggest sites are in County Wicklow; others are on Ham Hill in Somerset and at Hengistbury Head in Dorset. University of Edinburgh: Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland site launched
  13. 13 Within an hour of its launch, the Atlas website was receiving around 250,000 hits. University of Edinburgh: Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland site launched
  14. 14 Old Oswestry was built and lived in during the Iron Age, which English Heritage dates from 800 BC to AD 43. English Heritage: History of Old Oswestry Hillfort
  15. 15 Hillfort building began across Britain over 2,600 years ago, perhaps marking the rise of larger tribal groups ruled by new elites. English Heritage: History of Maiden Castle
  16. 16 No wells are known inside any hillfort, so people perhaps collected rainwater from their roofs in troughs or leather bags. English Heritage: History of Maiden Castle
  17. 17 Iron Age warfare usually took the form of heroic confrontations rather than sieges. English Heritage: History of Maiden Castle
  18. 18 Ramparts were formidable obstacles, but they may also have been built for display, showing off the power of the people inside. English Heritage: History of Old Oswestry Hillfort
  19. 19 A hillfort with several ramparts is called “multivallate”, meaning multiple ramparts. English Heritage: History of Old Oswestry Hillfort
  20. 20 A “univallate” fort is a hilltop enclosure with a single rampart, a ditch and a low counterscarp bank. National Trust: History of Cissbury Ring
  21. 21 Large Iron Age hillforts are rare; most are on the high chalklands of the southern counties of England. English Heritage: History of Uffington Castle, White Horse and Dragon Hill
  22. 22 In Devon and Cornwall most Iron Age hillforts sit on hill slopes or ridge ends overlooking springs or valleys, probably for farming rather than defence. English Heritage: History of Blackbury Camp

Parts of a hillfort

  1. 23 A “box rampart” has a clay core held up by timber and boulders and covered with earth. English Heritage: History of Old Oswestry Hillfort
  2. 24 A “glacis” rampart is built as one continuous slope up to its crest. English Heritage: History of Old Oswestry Hillfort
  3. 25 At Maiden Castle a timber palisade topped the chalk bank, needing hundreds of oak trees. English Heritage: History of Maiden Castle
  4. 26 Entrances began as simple gaps but were rebuilt into long entrance corridors, so people coming in could be watched. English Heritage: Description of Old Oswestry Hillfort
  5. 27 At Old Oswestry, attackers had to run the gauntlet of an entrance passage over 100 metres long. English Heritage: Description of Old Oswestry Hillfort
  6. 28 At Maiden Castle, winding tracks forced attackers into long, narrow death-traps. English Heritage: History of Maiden Castle
  7. 29 Pits by Maiden Castle’s gateways held thousands of beach pebbles: slingshots that could fly up to 100 metres. English Heritage: History of Maiden Castle
  8. 30 Uffington Castle’s entrance was a causeway flanked by the out-turned ends of the inner rampart, closed by a gate. English Heritage: History of Uffington Castle, White Horse and Dragon Hill
  9. 31 Square sets of four postholes, called “four-posters”, have been read as raised granaries, keeping grain dry and away from vermin. English Heritage: History of Maiden Castle
  10. 32 Roundhouses had high, straw-thatched roofs, and many had a central hearth for cooking, warmth and light. English Heritage: History of Maiden Castle
  11. 33 At Old Oswestry each roundhouse had wooden posts and wattle-and-daub walls, with a hearth inside. English Heritage: History of Old Oswestry Hillfort
  12. 34 Vitrification is when stones are fused together by intense heat. Historic Environment Scotland: Brown and White Caterthuns, history and stories
  13. 35 Counterscarp: the low bank on the outer side of a hillfort’s ditch. National Trust: History of Cissbury Ring

Life inside

  1. 36 Pots were hand-made from local clay, without a potter’s wheel. English Heritage: History of Maiden Castle
  2. 37 Iron and bronze tools are rarely found at hillforts, because these valuable metals were usually recycled. English Heritage: History of Maiden Castle
  3. 38 Clothing was woollen, and many everyday things were made of bone, leather, horn and wood. English Heritage: History of Maiden Castle
  4. 39 People kept dogs for herding cattle, guarding sheep from wolves, hunting and guarding homes. English Heritage: History of Maiden Castle
  5. 40 Around Maiden Castle people grew wheat, barley, peas and beans, and plants of the cabbage family. English Heritage: History of Maiden Castle
  6. 41 At Maiden Castle roundhouses stood in rows, facing tracks wide enough for carts. English Heritage: History of Maiden Castle
  7. 42 Not every round building was a home: some were workshops for making cloth and metalwork. English Heritage: History of Maiden Castle
  8. 43 Danebury was mainly a farming community: people kept sheep and cattle, wove woollen cloth and made leather goods. Hampshire County Council: Danebury Iron Age Hill Fort Local Nature Reserve
  9. 44 Danebury had few natural resources, so it traded for iron, tin, copper, salt, shale and stone. Hampshire County Council: Danebury Iron Age Hill Fort Local Nature Reserve
  10. 45 A community of 300 to 400 people lived at Danebury for more than 400 years. Hampshire County Council: Danebury Iron Age Hill Fort Local Nature Reserve
  11. 46 Men, women and children may all have had to fight off raiders by hurling sling stones. Hampshire County Council: Danebury Iron Age Hill Fort Local Nature Reserve
  12. 47 People at Danebury believed gods lived in rivers, trees and other natural features. Hampshire County Council: Danebury Iron Age Hill Fort Local Nature Reserve
  13. 48 Danebury’s storage pits were dug into the chalk with tools such as mattocks, with a narrow neck and a wider base, then filled with grain and sealed. Hampshire County Council: Danebury Iron Age Hill Fort Local Nature Reserve
  14. 49 Pottery from the Wiltshire area and salt containers from Cheshire reached Old Oswestry: proof of long-distance trade. English Heritage: History of Old Oswestry Hillfort
  15. 50 A pottery crucible in one hearth at Old Oswestry shows people were melting bronze there. English Heritage: History of Old Oswestry Hillfort
  16. 51 At Uffington, each large round hut probably housed an extended family. English Heritage: History of Uffington Castle, White Horse and Dragon Hill

Sites and stories

  1. 52 Maiden Castle in Dorset is one of Europe’s largest Iron Age hillforts, covering more than 50 football pitches. English Heritage: History of Maiden Castle
  2. 53 Work on Maiden Castle’s defences began about 2,400 years ago and went on for 300 years; at its peak hundreds of people lived there. English Heritage: History of Maiden Castle
  3. 54 The first Maiden Castle was a single rampart and ditch enclosing the size of ten football pitches. English Heritage: History of Maiden Castle
  4. 55 About 2,400 years ago its defences were pushed west to enclose three times the area; the inner rampart became 2km long. English Heritage: History of Maiden Castle
  5. 56 At its height Maiden Castle was the main Iron Age settlement in south Dorset, with over 100 roundhouses. English Heritage: History of Maiden Castle
  6. 57 When it was first built, its gleaming white chalk ramparts would have towered over the landscape. English Heritage: Maiden Castle
  7. 58 The hillfort was built over a Neolithic causewayed enclosure made about 5,500 years ago. English Heritage: History of Maiden Castle
  8. 59 About 90 causewayed enclosures are known in Britain, named for the gaps of untouched ground left in their banks and ditches. English Heritage: History of Maiden Castle
  9. 60 A Neolithic “bank barrow” there stretched 546 metres along the spine of the hill. English Heritage: History of Maiden Castle
  10. 61 The first Iron Age fort followed the line of the Neolithic enclosure, abandoned nearly 3,000 years before, perhaps out of respect for an ancient relic. English Heritage: History of Maiden Castle
  11. 62 Mortimer and Tessa Wheeler excavated Maiden Castle in 1934–7. English Heritage: History of Maiden Castle
  12. 63 In the eastern gateway the Wheelers found a large Iron Age cemetery; 34 skeletons from the very end of the Iron Age had terrible injuries. English Heritage: History of Maiden Castle
  13. 64 English Heritage says the dead were almost certainly not victims of a Roman assault: they were carefully buried, with grave goods, by their own people. English Heritage: History of Maiden Castle
  14. 65 By the time the Romans invaded, Maiden Castle was almost deserted. English Heritage: History of Maiden Castle
  15. 66 Around AD 370 a Romano-British temple was built inside the long-deserted hillfort. English Heritage: History of Maiden Castle
  16. 67 A bronze plaque of Minerva, found in 1882, suggests the temple was dedicated to her. English Heritage: History of Maiden Castle
  17. 68 With no water on the hilltop, a clay-lined dewpond was made for sheep in the 1860s. English Heritage: History of Maiden Castle
  18. 69 Thomas Hardy lived close by and visited the 1880s dig at the temple. English Heritage: History of Maiden Castle
  19. 70 Old Oswestry in Shropshire is one of the best-preserved hillforts in Britain, and stayed in use for almost 1,000 years. English Heritage: History of Old Oswestry Hillfort
  20. 71 Old Oswestry has five sets of ramparts, the outermost being the newest; in places they are over 6 metres high. English Heritage: Description of Old Oswestry Hillfort
  21. 72 Excavations in 1939 showed its ramparts were built in four main phases, not all at once. English Heritage: History of Old Oswestry Hillfort
  22. 73 The first settlement there dates to about 1000 BC, before the first ramparts. English Heritage: History of Old Oswestry Hillfort
  23. 74 Large rectangular pits flank the western entrance; nobody knows what they were for. English Heritage: Description of Old Oswestry Hillfort
  24. 75 After it was abandoned, the hillfort was built into a 40-mile earthwork called Wat’s Dyke. English Heritage: History of Old Oswestry Hillfort
  25. 76 In the First World War it was a training area; the poet Wilfred Owen finished his army training there. English Heritage: History of Old Oswestry Hillfort
  26. 77 Old Oswestry covers 40 acres inside its ramparts. English Heritage: Old Oswestry Hillfort
  27. 78 Uffington Castle on Whitehorse Hill encloses about 220 by 160 metres inside a chalk bank about 12 metres wide. English Heritage: History of Uffington Castle, White Horse and Dragon Hill
  28. 79 Its inner rampart was once lined with sarsen stones. English Heritage: History of Uffington Castle, White Horse and Dragon Hill
  29. 80 Uffington lies beside the Ridgeway, an ancient route from Dorset to the Wash. English Heritage: History of Uffington Castle, White Horse and Dragon Hill
  30. 81 The White Horse beside it is 111 metres long and has been dated to between 1740 and 210 BC. English Heritage: History of Uffington Castle, White Horse and Dragon Hill
  31. 82 From at least 1677 until the late 18th century, local people “scoured” the horse clean every seven years and feasted inside the hillfort. English Heritage: History of Uffington Castle, White Horse and Dragon Hill
  32. 83 Local legend links the horse with St George and the Dragon, which is how nearby Dragon Hill got its name. English Heritage: History of Uffington Castle, White Horse and Dragon Hill
  33. 84 In the Middle Ages the land inside Uffington Castle was ploughed. English Heritage: History of Uffington Castle, White Horse and Dragon Hill
  34. 85 Blackbury Camp in Devon is an oval about 200 by 100 metres, with a rampart now about 3 metres high. English Heritage: History of Blackbury Camp
  35. 86 Digs in the 1950s at Blackbury found a hut, a cooking pit, an oven, pottery and a hoard of over 1,000 slingstones. English Heritage: History of Blackbury Camp
  36. 87 Its most remarkable feature is a triangular earthwork in front of the entrance; it may have been a holding area for cattle. English Heritage: History of Blackbury Camp
  37. 88 The ground at its entrance was gravelled with pebbles from the stream below. English Heritage: History of Blackbury Camp
  38. 89 Blackbury is now hidden in woodland, a favourite place for picnics. English Heritage: History of Blackbury Camp
  39. 90 An Iron Age hillfort may have been set up at Old Sarum about 400 BC. English Heritage: History of Old Sarum
  40. 91 Old Sarum uniquely combines a medieval royal castle and cathedral inside an Iron Age fortification. English Heritage: History of Old Sarum
  41. 92 After the Norman Conquest a motte was thrown up in the middle of the hillfort. English Heritage: History of Old Sarum
  42. 93 In 1226 the cathedral moved to nearby Salisbury. English Heritage: History of Old Sarum
  43. 94 Old Sarum was a “rotten borough” that elected members of Parliament until 1832. English Heritage: History of Old Sarum
  44. 95 Three Roman roads met outside the east gate of the hillfort, then called Sorviodunum. English Heritage: History of Old Sarum
  45. 96 Hambledon Hill in Dorset is one of the best-preserved Iron Age hillforts in Great Britain. National Trust: Hambledon Hill
  46. 97 It rises steeply to 190 metres, with views into Wiltshire and Somerset. National Trust: Hambledon Hill
  47. 98 28 kinds of butterfly have been recorded there, including the Adonis blue. National Trust: Hambledon Hill
  48. 99 Its defences, with three ramparts, can still be seen, and you can spot the footprints of Iron Age roundhouses. National Trust: Exploring Hambledon Hill
  49. 100 Cissbury Ring is the largest hillfort in Sussex; its ditch and ramparts enclose about 65 acres. National Trust: Cissbury Ring
  50. 101 Cissbury’s hillfort was built around 400 BC and used for defence for around 300 years. National Trust: History of Cissbury Ring
  51. 102 Long before the hillfort, Neolithic people mined flint at Cissbury: there are around 270 pits, up to 12 metres deep. National Trust: History of Cissbury Ring
  52. 103 The miners probably dug with a deer antler as a pick and an ox shoulder blade as a shovel. National Trust: History of Cissbury Ring
  53. 104 Most of the tools found at Cissbury have been axes. National Trust: History of Cissbury Ring
  54. 105 Coins struck between 1009 and 1023 suggest there was once a mint at Cissbury. National Trust: History of Cissbury Ring
  55. 106 In Tudor times Cissbury was part of a chain of warning beacons; watchers could see 78 miles of coast. National Trust: History of Cissbury Ring
  56. 107 After 100 BC the inside of Cissbury was used for farming, with fields marked out by banks. National Trust: History of Cissbury Ring
  57. 108 Danebury in Hampshire is one of the most studied Iron Age hillforts in Europe. Hampshire County Council: Danebury Iron Age Hill Fort Local Nature Reserve
  58. 109 Danebury was built about 2,500 years ago and lived in for nearly 500 years. Hampshire County Council: Danebury Iron Age Hill Fort Local Nature Reserve
  59. 110 Barry Cunliffe led digs there from 1969 to 1988, uncovering 57% of the inside. Hampshire County Council: Danebury Iron Age Hill Fort Local Nature Reserve
  60. 111 They found 73 roundhouses, 500 rectangular buildings and thousands of deep storage pits. Hampshire County Council: Danebury Iron Age Hill Fort Local Nature Reserve
  61. 112 Finds include more than 180,000 pieces of pottery and 240,000 bits of bone. Hampshire County Council: Danebury Iron Age Hill Fort Local Nature Reserve
  62. 113 Finds from Danebury are on show at the Museum of the Iron Age in Andover. Hampshire Cultural Trust: Museum of the Iron Age
  63. 114 When Hampshire County Council bought the hillfort in 1958, its earthworks were covered in beech trees. Hampshire County Council: Danebury Iron Age Hill Fort Local Nature Reserve
  64. 115 The Brown and White Caterthuns in Angus are two large hillforts about 1 kilometre apart on neighbouring hills. Historic Environment Scotland: Brown and White Caterthuns
  65. 116 They could be seen as one site with two summits. Historic Environment Scotland: Brown and White Caterthuns
  66. 117 Radiocarbon dates show the Brown Caterthun was built between 700 BC and 200 BC. Historic Environment Scotland: Brown and White Caterthuns, history and stories
  67. 118 Its ramparts were burned, rebuilt and remodelled in several phases. Historic Environment Scotland: Brown and White Caterthuns, history and stories
  68. 119 The White Caterthun’s great stone fort would have stood several metres high. Historic Environment Scotland: Brown and White Caterthuns, history and stories
  69. 120 Inside it are roundhouse remains and a deep rock-cut cistern. Historic Environment Scotland: Brown and White Caterthuns, history and stories
  70. 121 Each Caterthun has many entrances lined up like avenues to the summit, perhaps to control who went where. Historic Environment Scotland: Brown and White Caterthuns, history and stories
  71. 122 Historic Environment Scotland says we do not know exactly what the Caterthuns were used for. Historic Environment Scotland: Brown and White Caterthuns, history and stories
  72. 123 Castell Henllys in Pembrokeshire is the only Iron Age village in Britain with roundhouses rebuilt on the very spot they stood 2,000 years ago. Pembrokeshire Coast National Park: About Castell Henllys
  73. 124 Its costumed guides play members of the Demetae tribe, who lived in that corner of Wales. Pembrokeshire Coast National Park: About Castell Henllys
  74. 125 Castell Henllys is one of the most extensively excavated Iron Age sites in the UK. Pembrokeshire Coast National Park: About Castell Henllys

Visiting (dated)

  1. 126 English Heritage lists Maiden Castle as free entry, open any reasonable time in daylight hours. English Heritage: Maiden Castle · checked 3 Nov 2026
  2. 127 The site is very exposed, with no shelter. English Heritage: Maiden Castle
  3. 128 Old Oswestry is free entry, open any reasonable time in daylight hours. English Heritage: Old Oswestry Hillfort · checked 3 Nov 2026
  4. 129 Uffington Castle is free entry, open any reasonable time in daylight hours. English Heritage: Uffington Castle, White Horse and Dragon Hill · checked 3 Nov 2026
  5. 130 Blackbury Camp is free entry, open any reasonable time in daylight hours. English Heritage: Blackbury Camp · checked 3 Nov 2026
  6. 131 The Caterthuns are free to visit and open all year. Historic Environment Scotland: Brown and White Caterthuns, plan your visit · checked 3 Nov 2026
  7. 132 Hambledon Hill’s countryside is open dawn to dusk. National Trust: Hambledon Hill · checked 3 Nov 2026
  8. 133 Castell Henllys village opens every day 10am to 5pm from 30 March to 1 November. Pembrokeshire Coast National Park: About Castell Henllys · checked 3 Nov 2026
  9. 134 At Old Oswestry sheep and cattle graze, so dogs must be kept on leads. English Heritage: Old Oswestry Hillfort
  10. 135 English Heritage recommends strong footwear at Old Oswestry, which has steep paths and uneven ground. English Heritage: Old Oswestry Hillfort

The national curriculum

  1. 136 In England’s KS2 curriculum, “changes in Britain from the Stone Age to the Iron Age” can include Iron Age hill forts: tribal kingdoms, farming, art and culture. GOV.UK (DfE): National curriculum in England, history programmes of study
  2. 137 A KS2 local history study can trace how aspects of national history are reflected in the locality. GOV.UK (DfE): National curriculum in England, history programmes of study
  3. 138 KS2 Roman examples include Julius Caesar’s attempted invasion in 55–54 BC. GOV.UK (DfE): National curriculum in England, history programmes of study