Monument record 631/0/14 - Possible defensive feature, Borough Hill

Earthworks scarp extending up to 500m in length. Unknown whether it is a natural feature or a previously unknown outer defence of the hillfort.

{1} Prominent scarp, traceable for at least 400 and possibly at least 500 metres.
Southernmost length: cSP58506213 to at least SP58416205. At least 100 metres long. Heavily overgrown. Extent to south and west not determined. May result from modem activity associated with modern upgrading of the adjoining road and house or be of earlier origin?
Middle length: cSP58506213 to cSP58566233. Approximately 190-200 metres long. Prominent scarp, getting progressively longer to the north. Traces of what might possibly be a slight terrace or platform along at least part of the base of the slope.
Northern length: cSP58566233 to cSP585116255. Traced for approximately 200-225 metres; northern extent not determined but may be destroyed by new housing development? Comprises a broad scarp; earthwork remains of ditch and bank (field boundary?) along much of base of the scarp. Running at right angles down the slope is a further ditch — exact location not determined but possibly co-incident with boundary on earlier OS maps.
It is unclear whether the scarp is a natural or constructed feature. It is noted that all three lengths generally follow the 180 to 185 metre contours in much the same way as do the recorded earthwork defences of the contour hillfort slightly higher up the hillside. If not natural, and not the product of modern activity, the scarp might form part of an outer/earlier set of defences?

<1> Cadman, G., 2003, Daventry, Borough Hill, (checked) (Note). SNN107026.

Record last edited

Sep 15 2023 3:25PM