Bury Walls is an
Iron Age
The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...
hillfort
A hillfort is a type of fortification, fortified refuge or defended settlement located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typical of the late Bronze Age Europe, European Bronze Age and Iron Age Europe, Iron Age. So ...
about south-east of
Weston-under-Redcastle
Weston-under-Redcastle is an estate village of the Rowland Hill (MP), Sir Rowland Hill legacy estates. It is a civil parish in Shropshire, England. It lies 10 km (6.2 miles) by road east of Wem. Historically, it has been part of the manor ...
, in
Shropshire
Shropshire (; abbreviated SalopAlso used officially as the name of the county from 1974–1980. The demonym for inhabitants of the county "Salopian" derives from this name.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West M ...
, England. It is a
scheduled monument
In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change.
The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage, visu ...
.
Description
The fort is on a promontory facing south-west, part of the southern
escarpment
An escarpment is a steep slope or long cliff that forms as a result of faulting or erosion and separates two relatively level areas having different elevations.
Due to the similarity, the term '' scarp'' may mistakenly be incorrectly used inte ...
of a
sandstone
Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...
ridge. The altitude is . The enclosure is about north to south and east to west; the area within is about .
[
From the enclosure there are extensive views to the south, and there is a natural spring within the enclosure. The main entrance is near the north-east corner: there is an inturned entrance about wide.][
]
Excavation and surveys
In 1930 there was some excavation of the site by E. W. Bowcock. It was found that the bedrock at the entrance was cut by cart ruts. To the right of the entrance there were two areas of broken stone, perhaps indicating hearths, and a possible quern-stone
A quern-stone is a stone tool for hand-grinding a wide variety of materials, especially for various types of grains.
They are used in pairs. The lower stationary stone of early examples is called a ''saddle quern'', while the upper mobile st ...
. Near the centre of the interior, foundations of a building were discovered, thought at the time to be medieval, but more recently thought to be the remains of a Romano-Celtic temple
A Romano-Celtic temple or is a sub-class of Roman temples which is found in the north-western Celtic provinces of the Roman Empire. It was the centre of worship in the Gallo-Roman religion. The architecture of Romano-Celtic temples differs from ...
.[
In 1999 and 2000 there were ]geophysical
Geophysics () is a subject of natural science concerned with the physical processes and properties of Earth and its surrounding space environment, and the use of quantitative methods for their analysis. Geophysicists conduct investigations acros ...
and topographical
Topography is the study of the forms and features of land surfaces. The topography of an area may refer to the landforms and features themselves, or a description or depiction in maps.
Topography is a field of geoscience and planetary scienc ...
surveys. In the northern part of the interior, there was evidence of a series of large concentric terraces; the material taken during their creation was apparently used for the defences.[
]
See also
* Hillforts in Britain
Hillforts in Britain refers to the various hillforts within the island of Great Britain. Although the earliest such constructs fitting this description come from the Neolithic British Isles, with a few also dating to later Bronze Age Britain, Briti ...
* Geology of Shropshire
References
{{Iron Age hillforts in England
Hill forts in Shropshire
Scheduled monuments in Shropshire