savernake forest a report for the national mapping ... - English Heritage

lidar images, but neither added any significant additional information to the existing plans
of the site. The fort occupies a high point north of great Bedwyn, overlooking the valley of
the River Dun to the south-east. It is oval in plan and covers approximately 5.7ha (Hogg
1979), and though the ramparts are generally well preserved, it is not clear which of the
four current entrances were original. The northern and southern entrances are utilised by
the modern road (RCHME 1973). To the north-east is a smaller entrance adjacent to
Chisbury Manor, and there is another small break in the ramparts to the west. Aerial
photographs from the 1930s of the interior of the hillfort show a raised linear bank,
possibly a boundary or trackway aligned E-W apparently leading to this gap. The largest
break cuts through the eastern ramparts and is possibly an original entrance to the fort,.
This is now overlain by the farm buildings and St Martin’s church and used by a track. The
Andrews and Dury map of the area published in 1773 depicts a hollow way leading to
this gap, possibly providing access to the church (Andrews and Dury 1773).
The interior of the hillfort has been altered considerably through centuries of occupation
and re-use evident from the discovery of Iron Age structures and Roman pottery (Pugh
and Crittall (eds) 1957), (Passmore 1903-42), and the presence of the 18 th century
Chisbury Manor farm and the late 13 th century Church of St Martin. More recent
disturbance has been caused by, an episode of gravel digging in 1900 and the addition of a
covered reservoir in 20 th century.
Figure 7 - PCA (Principal Component Analysis) generated colour image of Chisbury hillfort utilising multiple
light sources. LIDAR SU2666 DTM 06-APR-2006 © Peter Crow – Forest Research; source Cambridge Unit
for Landscape Modelling.
Aerial photographs taken between 1933 and 1939 record the interior of the fort prior to
the excavation of the reservoir (visible as a raised square earthwork within the fort (Figure
7). These show two perpendicular banks, probably field boundaries in the south-east
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