Croft Ambrey is an

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostl ...

hill fort A hillfort is a type of earthwork used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze Age or Iron Age. Some were used in the post-Roma ...

Herefordshire Herefordshire () is a county in the West Midlands of England, governed by Herefordshire Council. It is bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh counties of Monmouthsh ...

, England.

Location

Croft Ambrey, on Yatton Hill, is in the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

of Aymestrey, north from

Leominster Leominster ( ) is a market town in Herefordshire, England, at the confluence of the River Lugg and its tributary the River Kenwater. The town is north of Hereford and south of Ludlow in Shropshire. With a population of 11,700, Leominster i ...

, south-east from the South

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to ...

border, and approximately east from the

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

border. The fort is on high ground beyond and adjoining the north-east boundary of

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

Croft Castle Croft Castle is a country house in the village of Croft, Herefordshire, England. Owned by the Croft family since 1085, the castle and estate passed out of their hands in the 18th century, before being repurchased by the family in 1923. In 1957 ...

parkland. The nearest settlements are the villages of Yarpole, Aymestrey and

Yatton Yatton is a village and civil parish within the unitary authority of North Somerset, which falls within the ceremonial county of Somerset, England. It is located south-west of Bristol. Its population in 2011 was 7,552. The parish includes Clav ...

, and the hamlet of

Mortimer's Cross The Battle of Mortimer's Cross was fought on 2 February 1461 near Kingsland, Herefordshire (between Leominster and Leintwardine, by the River Lugg), not far from the Welsh border. It was a major battle of the Wars of the Roses. The opposing ...

. The Mortimer Trail waymarked long-distance footpath passes the site.

Description

The monument includes a small multivallate

hillfort A hillfort is a type of earthwork used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze Age or Iron Age. Some were used in the post-Roma ...

with an annexe containing a

Romano-Celtic temple A Romano-Celtic temple (more specifically a Romano-British temple in Great Britain, or Gallo-Roman temple in the Continental region formerly comprising Gaul) is a sub-class of Roman temple found in the north-western provinces of the Roman Empire. ...

and a medieval

warren A warren is a network of wild rodent or lagomorph, typically rabbit burrows. Domestic warrens are artificial, enclosed establishment of animal husbandry dedicated to the raising of rabbits for meat and fur. The term evolved from the medieval A ...

of up to five pillow mounds on the summit of a prominent steeply sloping spur overlooking Yatton Marsh and the valley of a tributary to Allcock's Brook. The hillfort survives as a roughly triangular enclosure defined to the north by two scarps with a buried ditch: to the west by three rampart banks and a larger internal ditch and to the south by three rampart banks with two medial ditches and a wide internal ditch which may have been used to store water. There were two complex entrances which through time had 20 successive gateposts and were further enhanced with guardrooms, corridors and bridges of which the south western was the principal entrance and the north eastern was complex and inturned. The enclosure originally covered approximately 2.2ha, but this increased through time to 3.6ha and eventually a southern rectangular annexe was added. This is defined by two slighter concentric banks.

Excavations

The hillfort was excavated between 1960 and 1966 and was found to have been in use from the 6th century BC up to AD 48. It contained closely set rectangular buildings which had been rebuilt up to six times. The population of the hillfort was estimated at 500-900 individuals. Finds included metalwork such as iron tools, weapons, sickles, blades, nails and a spade, shale and glass objects, bone and antler artefacts, spindle whorls, loom and thatch weights, saddle querns and

rotary quern Quern-stones are stone tools for hand- grinding a wide variety of materials. They are used in pairs. The lower stationary stone of early examples is called a saddle quern, while the upper mobile stone is called a muller, rubber or handstone. The ...

s, hammer stones and

pottery. There are some notable parallels with the hillfort at Wapley Hill, which also was used for rabbit farming.

References

External links

*
Croft Ambrey on the Roman-Britain website
Hill forts in Herefordshire Hills of Herefordshire {{Herefordshire-struct-stub

Location

Description

Excavations

References

Further reading

External links