The view from Leckhampton

Oddly enough, given more than 30 years visiting a certain hillfort, one of C-H-M's omissions has been a visit to the hillfort next door. So it is a delight to find amongst Lara Unger's 1993 photographs this view "from Leckhampton fort towards our camp (which you can just barely make out in the centre". So that's what it looks like over there ...

Savage 1988: 8. The Round House Village

A return, with thanks to Richard Savage and the Crickley Hill Trust, to the second hillfort as described in Richard's 1988 booklet:

"8 The Round House Village 

In the sixth century BC, after an interval which may have been short, a village was established on the site by a community with quite different traditions of housebuilding.  Just inside the entrance stood a great  round house, 15 m in diameter.  It was a type whose successful construction attests the highest standards of carpentry and engineering attained in south Britain at the time, for the peak of its thatched conical roof stood eleven  metres high or more, with no central support.  It was accompanied by a number of smaller round houses.  This village too was provided with four-post granaries.  There is no reason to doubt that the community was broadly the same kind and size as its predecessor.  

Substantial progress was made in rebuilding and strengthening the defences in the vulnerable eastern sector.  The old wall, much of which had slaked to a powdery mortar-like aggregation, had already been patched with lengths of walling hastily built from the rubble of its destruction.  Now it was covered and extended with new stonework, quarried from pits immediately behind it in the interior and from extensions of the old ditch outside it.  The new defence was ambitious; perhaps 5 or 6m high, with a walkway along the top and another platform, whose purpose in defence is not clear, part way down the front.  It may be structural, the result of an attempt to build a high wall Crickley on a broad, firm base, in order to make a visually impressive and bristling series of battlements towards the eastern approaches.  The old entrance was protected by new features: a bastion on either side and a hook-work which compelled the visitor to turn his unshielded right side to the north bastion, and its guards, as he entered.  The construction of a second, outer wall was begun. 

[Photo: the largest round house.  This reconstruction gives it the greatest practicable height; it may have been lower.  Part of the roof is unthatched to show the construction J. Eltham] 

The village was destroyed before the re-fortification could be finished.  Was the work undertaken in response to a threat?  Or was the attack intended to root out an over-mighty power before it became impregnable?  It is unlikely that we shall ever know.  The hill-fort at Leckhampton hill, 3 km away, may have been occupied at the same time as the second hillfort at Crickley, and it, too, was destroyed by burning. 

The destruction of the second hillfort seems to have in place no later than 400 BC, and at present there is nothing to suggest that the hill was occupied again before the Roman conquest, although evidence of later Iron Age occupation may yet be found.  There were burials of the late Iron Age less than 1 km away on Barrow Wake, including that containing the Birdlip mirror and other fine metalwork of the last decades before the Roman conquest, which can now be seen in Gloucester Museum.  We do not know where their occupants had lived.  The stonework of the defences crumbled slowly.  It was still at least partly standing four centuries later, in Roman times. 

[Photo: the final Iron Age wall and illustration: the round house village, c 500BC R. Morgan]"

The photograph on the second page, showing the final Iron Age wall, also appears at page 118 of "Crickley Hill: The Hillforts Defences" (Dixon and the Crickley Hill Trust 1994): from the examination of the full-page photograph there I can identify Anna Collinge and Bernie Dawson silhouetted against the skyline, with, just below them, Paul Noakes, a woman I can't identify, Mike Taylor, and John Parry.  Just out the right, throwing a shape, Dave Southwood.

The Second Hillfort

Again, by kind permission of Professor Dixon: the Second Hillfort at Crickley section of "Crickley Hill and Gloucestershire Prehistory" from 1977:

"After the burning of the first fort the site was abandoned for several years at least, while silt layers and turf formed above the ruins.  Rebuilding began piecemeal: the old walls were patched up and a new gate inserted into damaged entrance.  Subsequently this gate was massively rebuilt in a single operation and was now defended by a pair of stone bastions, approach being checked by a second gate in a large outwork.  Behind this spectacular and formidable obstacle the settlement was replanned: a great round house, nearly 50 feet in diameter, stood directly beyond the inner gate; around it lay an irregular ring of smaller roundhouses; further away small square buildings in clusters were presumably used as granaries, and other groups of postholes, in pairs or similar arrangements, may be seen as the remains of ancillary buildings like those of the earliest settlement; (see figure 3).  A radiocarbon date from the new gateway suggests a date for the rebuilt fort not later than the late 6th or the early 5th century BC.

The difference in building techniques is striking, and the new community used a fine decorated pottery quite distinct from that of the first hillfort.  To regard the inhabitants as newcomers seems reasonable, but they will not have come from far away, for similar pottery-styles (and similar houses) were in fashion in contemporary sites in the mid and upper Thames basin.

The life of the second hillfort may well also have been short: the new cobbled road through the entrance was worn and patched, but there were no signs of repair or rebuilding the postholes either of the houses or of the defences.  Despite its massive ramparts the fort was attacked and captured: the houses were burnt, a thick layer of charcoal covered the cobbled road, and the walls of the bastions were reddened by fire.

Other sites to see

Of the many hill forts of the Gloucestershire Cotswolds only Leckhampton, near Cheltenham, has produced evidence of an occupation broadly contemporary with that at Crickley, ending in a similar destruction.  Excavation has shown that the Leckhampton rampart belongs to a single period of building, with a few scraps of pottery resembling that of the second Crickley hillfort.

Nothing is yet known of the houses inside Leckhampton, but roundhouses are familiar from many sites in Britain.  Small roundhouses (based on examples found at the later Iron Age sites ofConderton, near Bredon, Worcs., and Glastonbury, Somerset) may be seen reconstructed at the Avoncroft Museum near Bromsgrove; a large roundhouse, modelled on the house excavated at Pimperne, Dorset, has recently been built at the experimental Iron Age farm on Little Butser Hill, near Petersfield, Hants.

Further Reading

D. Harding, The Iron Age in Lowland Britain (1974),  B. Cunliffe, Iron Age Communities in Britain (1974), B. Cunliffe, 'The Iron Age' in British Prehistory, ed. C. Renfrew (1974), Royal Commission on Historical Monuments, Ancient and Historical Monuments in the County of  

Gloucester, Vol. 1: Iron Age and Romano-British Monuments in the Gloucestershire Cotswolds (1976)"

Cunliffe on Crickley Hill

I remember being taught to sing a ditty by David Southwood with the following lyrics: "When this bloody dig is over, no more trowelling for me: I will go and put my feet up and watch Barry Cunliffe on TV."  I'm afraid that I can't provide a TV clip of Professor Cunliffe on the blog but I am grateful to the Secretary of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society for permission to reproduce this extract from the presidential address that Barry Cunliffe gave the Society in 1984:

"Gloucestershire and the Iron Age of Southern Britain

By Barry Cunliffe

Presidential Address Delivered at the Council House, Bristol, 24 March 1984

But these hilltop enclosures, whatever their function, were not the only defended sites of the Earliest period.  The excavation of the strongly-fortified promontory fort of Budbury just over the border in Wiltshire has produced a mass of contemporary occupation material including highly-decorated pottery of All Cannings Cross type.  In Gloucestershire, Crickley Hill with its substantial stone-built and timber-laced rampart (Crickley period 2) must belong to this period, for it has produced three radio-carbon dates suggested of construction in the eighth century BC (Dixon 1972; 1976).  Philip Dixon's large-scale excavation here is an outstanding importance for the evidence it is providing of the Earliest and Early phases of the Iron Age in Gloucestershire. Inside the gate of the period 2 fort he has discovered a number of four-post buildings together with several long rectangular structures which are either houses (as the excavator prefers to see them) or rows of four-, five-, and six-post "granaries", some of them in fenced enclosures.  At any event the massiveness of the Crickley 2 defences and the density of buildings within, combined with a comparatively small area closed, serves to distinguish Crickley from the broadly contemporary hilltop enclosures, suggesting that the fort was occupied by a community of some status.  Thus we can begin to see a pattern emerged with a few very strongly-defended forts like Crickley and Budbury possibly representing the residences of the elite, while the larger hilltop enclosures may have been pastoral structures serving larger communities.  That the period was one of some stress is shown by the destruction of Crickley 2 by fire and its partial rebuilding in period 3a.

It was during the Early period in Wessex that hillforts seem suddenly to have proliferated.  This may well have been the case in Gloucestershire but the evidence is rather less clearly defined. At Crickley however, in period 3b, there is dramatic evidence for the massive rebuilding of the defences with complex outworks to protect the entrance.  A single radiocarbon assessment suggests the construction date may have been in the sixth or fifth century BC.  Excavations within the fort showed that the layout of the settlement had changed, the exclusively rectangular structures giving way to a new layout dominated by a very large roundhouse sited just inside the gate.  The nearby hillfort of Leckhampton, defended by a timber-laced rampart with stone fronting-wall, is thought to have been built at about the same time; it too could boast an entrance of monumental proportion."

Witts's Ancient Camps - Leckhampton Camp

A further extract from the Archaeological Handbook of the County of Gloucester by George Witts published by G. Norman, Clarence Street Cheltenham, n.d. (1883):

"No. 64. — Leckhampton Camp. On Leckhampton Hill, two miles out of Cheltenham, there is an interesting work of some magnitude. The point of the hill overlooking the valley of the Severn has been cut off by an entrenchment, consisting, for the greater part of the distance, of a single mound nine feet high, with each end resting on the escarpment. About 50 yards from the northern precipice there are two entrances through the entrenchments, one leading into the main portion of the camp, and another, at a much lower level, leading into a deep depression running nearly parallel with the edge of the rocks. Along the line of the entrenchments from these entrances to the escarpment there is a considerable ditch, outside the bank. On the old Ordnance Survey a bank is shown parallel to the northern escarpment of the hill. This has possibly been destroyed by quarrying operations. Professor Buckman, in his "Corinium," speaks of a true Roman well existing in the centre of the camp, sunk through the various strata of the oolitic rock down to the clay beneath. I can find no trace of this, but there are one or two likely-looking hollows in which a little excavation might be interesting. On the outside of the camp, towards the east, is a remarkable round barrow, 4 feet high and 35 feet in diameter; this is protected by a mound 70 feet square and 2 feet 6 inches high. At a distance of over 300 yards from the main position is another line of earthworks, consisting of a single bank, in some places five feet high, running on a curved line, and thus enclosing a very large area, probably for flocks and herds. Several relics of antiquity have been found on Leckhampton Hill, including a bronze helmet, spear-heads, coins, pottery, flint arrow-heads, &c.; and some human skeletons have been discovered at various times. 

See "Archaeologia," vol. XIX, p171. Also "Archaeological Journal," vol. XII, p9. Also Bigland's "History of Gloucestershire," vol.II, p148. Also Buckman's "Corinium," p5. Also "Proceedings Cott. Nat. Field Club," vol. VI, p209. Also "Journal of Archaeological Association," vol.I, p43.Also "Transactions Bristol and Glou. Archae. Soc.," 1879‑80, p206."

Excavations on Leckhampton Hill 1925

Thanks are due to the Secretary of the Bristol & Gloucestershire Archaeological Society for permission to reproduce extracts from the BGAS's Transactions.  Here a couple of intriguing items from 1925.

"Less than a mile away are three barrows, one a particularly fine long barrow of the Neolithic Age, at "the Crippets", two round barrows near the inn known as the "Air Balloon", and by the side of the road to Birdlip, was found a beautiful mirror enamelled in colours, at  a burial place of the Iron Age, one of the most striking specimens ever discovered of that period, now in Gloucester Museum.  Hence there was sufficient reason to welcome the opportunity of exploring and dating the tumulus and the adjoining camp.  

A particularly interesting feature of the core of Leckhampton Camp is the appearance of the action of fire or intense hear, which has reddened the yellow oolite rock in a remarkable way.  This peculiarity is not confined to Leckhampton Camp - for it is very noticeable at Crickley Camp - two miles away.  

Thomas Lloyd Baker, in a paper read before the Society of Antiquaries, London in 1818, refers to this fact for which there is no adequate explanation."

A culinary update from Tony Watts ...

Tony writes: "It's good to see that my meringue has been recorded in the annals of British archaeology - not so the sandwiches.  However I was happy to see my food referrred to as 'robust' - I think.  One year in celebration of something or other I made Rampart Cake which was very carefully detailed and bore some resemblance to the trench that had been cut through the rampart at the time.  I don't suppose anyone has a photo? I wish I had taken a picture at the time. Maybe Phil Dixon did?

The finer art of sandwich production began in Lydia's kitchen in 1969 during the Leckhampton dig. It was refined - if you can call it that - when we occupied the Ullenwood Camp in 1971. With the splendid post war kitchen facilities available were able to bang out 100's of sandwiches. I do recall one year we had a sandwich riot because we had the same fillings for 3 days in a row. I believe Terry was the ringleader but details fade with time."

On some ancient roads on the Cotswolds ...

My thanks again to the Secretary of the Bristol & Gloucestershire Archaeological Society, John Loosley, for permission to reproduce this extract from the BGAS Transactions. Interesting comments from 1896-97 from John Sawyer on the road from Birdlip via Crickley and the Greenway to Leckhampton and Norbury. "Crickley Hill ... appears to have been a British village". Full paper is here.

A late 18th century reference to the Air Balloon

The Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society has kindly granted permission for extracts from its Transactions to be posted on the Crickley blog: above, a reference to the Balloon Inn by Joshua Gilpin walking from Cheltenham to Birdlip in 1796-7. Gilpin was an American papermaker who toured Britain and the Continent between 1795 and 1801. The full article, from which the piece above is an extract, appears here. The searchable General Index of the Transactions of BGAS is here.

The fame of the Leisuredrome spans the globe ... everywhere in the branch, this forest is going a bit astray ...

Don't ask me what I was up to with a search engine when I found this: just admire my diligence. Other parts of this beautiful Japanese blog show some excellent shots of the Devil's Chimney on Leckhampton Hill. Japanese Cotswold Way Blog Perhaps someone who reads Japanese could translate? I cut and paste the text into the TranStar web machine translator and it came up with the following not entirely satisfactory results. Make of this what you will.

"National Highway No. A417 is the right-hander, and rotary-like HEYAPIN [hairpin? - Ed.] left to the right to progress to the national highway number and A436.

KOTTSUUORUDO [Cotswold? - Ed.] Way, Rotary north across the top of the national highway number A417 north of Crickley Hill parallel to enter the camp.

Many of the big trees such as beech woodland is even more dark and visibility is 50 m or less. Everywhere in the branch, this forest is going a bit astray. [Indeed it is, indeed it is ...]

500m-plus, toilets and pavilion (arbor), the parking area after a break. Circular Walks walking the course signs. In addition to thick haze and visibility is only 30 m long. [They didn't have much luck with the weather from the look of the photograph - perhaps not even 30m long is the visibility...]

Break away from your office to follow the signposts ahead, he will go to the southeast towards the north.戻ったろうaround 1km, maneuvering the footpath to the southeast into the dirt road running east to west to root out again."

That's really made my day!

Quick guide to all those Cotswold hills

Tewkesbury Borough Council website About Tewkesbury has collated this rather useful guide:

Birdlip Hill
Birdlip Hill is the way the Romans climbed the escarpment from Glevum (Gloucester) on their way to Corinium (Cirencester). Its steep and wooded route now links the Witcombes with Birdlip on the brow of the hill. Just to the north of the road as it makes its final ascent is "The Peak", reached up a bridleway and forming part of the Cotswold Way National Trail. This is a wonderful lofty viewpoint at the apex of the sharp spur dividing the Witcombe valley from Barrow Wake to the north. The wood on the top of the spur, behind the viewpoint stands on an iron age hillfort the boundary bank of which can be seen at the eastern end.

Cleeve Hill
Cleeve Hill's summit, Cleeve Cloud, at 1083 ft (330 metres) is the highest point on the great Jurassic escarpment stretching from Dorset to the North Sea coast. This high point lies at the back of Cleeve Common, important for many reasons including its archaeology, flora, geology and landforms. In terms of recreation it is used by walkers, rock climbers, riders (under licence) and not least by golfers. The common is managed by the Board of Conservators. Interpretation boards have been installed by the Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust in order to explain some of the unique geology of the common. These can be reached from the public car park near the golf club. Most of the common is also identified as a site of special scientific interest because of both its geological and botanical importance.

Chosen Hill
Chosen Hill lies to the north east of Gloucester on the borders of Churchdown and Hucclecote, it is an outlier of the Cotswold escarpment. Used by ancient inhabitants as the site for a hillfort it now provides the site for a number of reservoirs and Churchdown Parish Church, this hilltop site for a mediaeval church is unusual locally.

Coopers Hill
In the Parish of Brockworth, this hill is well known for the ancient annual cheese rolling ceremony in which brave people race down a precipitous slope at the top of the Cotswold escarpment in pursuit of Double Gloucester cheeses. The top of the hill is also part of the Cotswold Commons and Beechwoods Special Area of Conservation, a site of European Nature Conservation Importance.

Crickley Hill
Crickley Hill is the site of one of the many ancient hillforts which crown many of the hills in the local area, this one is unusual for the extensive archaeological excavations carried out here over many years. The site, owned by the National Trust, is managed as a Country Park by the County Council and offers magnificent views across the vale and along the escarpment. In common with some of the other hills it is both scheduled as an ancient monument and is also identified as a site of special scientific interest for its limestone grassland and flora.

Dumbleton Hill, Oxenton Hill and Langley Hill
These are all Cotswold outliers, whilst Nottingham Hill above Gotherington and Woodmancote will eventually become one as the escarpment continues to weather away (a process which will probably take many hundreds of thousands of years).

Lassington Hill
This hill in the south west of the Borough at Highnam, and there are fine views of the Leadon Valley to the north and the Severn Vale to the east from here.

Leckhampton Hill
Close to the southern fringe of Cheltenham the Cotswold Escarpment rises steeply to the remains of old limestone quarries and the ruins of early C20th limekilns. The routes of the tramway inclines can still be followed down into Leckhampton road to the west of the main road up the hill. The tramways were formerly linked to Gloucester Docks by the Cheltenham Gloucester Tramroad in the early - mid C19th. One particularly enigmatic feature on the hill is the Devil's Chimney, a substantial pillar of stone left standing next to one of the upper inclines, nothing is known as to who left it there or why. Part of the hill is scheduled as an ancient monument (an ancient hillfort) and much of it is also identified as a site of special scientific interest for its limestone grassland and flora.

Sandhurst Hill / Norton Hill
These are part of the Triassic geology of the River Severn, their make-up is exposed at Wainlodes Cliff geological site of special scientific interest where the Severn is wearing the hill away.