Thundersbarrow Hill is an archaeological site in

West Sussex West Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Surrey to the north, East Sussex to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Hampshire to the west. The largest settlement is Cr ...

, England. It is on a chalk ridge, aligned north-west to south-east, on the

South Downs The South Downs are a range of chalk hills in the south-eastern coastal counties of England that extends for about across the south-eastern coastal counties of England from the Itchen valley of Hampshire in the west to Beachy Head, in the ...

north of

Shoreham-by-Sea Shoreham-by-Sea (often shortened to Shoreham) is a coastal town and port in the Adur District, Adur district, in the county of West Sussex, England. In 2011 it had a population of 20,547. The town is bordered to its north by the South Downs, to ...

. There 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 ...

; also a

bowl barrow A bowl barrow is a type of burial mound or tumulus. A barrow is a mound of earth used to cover a tomb. The bowl barrow gets its name from its resemblance to an upturned bowl. Related terms include ''cairn circle'', ''cairn ring'', ''howe'', ''ker ...

and a Martin Down style enclosure of the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

; and traces of a

Romano-British The Romano-British culture arose in Britain under the Roman Empire following the Roman conquest in AD 43 and the creation of the province of Britannia. It arose as a fusion of the imported Roman culture with that of the indigenous Britons, ...

farming village. The site 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

There was some excavation in 1932 by E. C. Curwen, and in 1985 by D. Rudling.

Hillfort

The

univallate A hillfort is a type of fortified refuge or defended settlement located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typical of the late European Bronze Age and Iron Age. Some were used in the post- Roman period. The fortif ...

fort, area about , is roughly circular; the east side has been much affected by ploughing, but the western side has a bank up to high. There was originally an outer ditch of width about , now filled in. There are entrances at the north and south-east. Analysis of pottery

sherd This page is a glossary of archaeology, the study of the human past from material remains. A B C D E F ...

s have shown that the fort was constructed in the 6th century BC and in use until the mid 3rd century BC.

Martin Down style enclosure

Inside the fort is a Martin Down style enclosure, so named after the Bronze Age enclosure on Martin Down in Hampshire, interpreted as a domestic settlement. It is roughly square, with sides of about and area about , almost levelled by ploughing. There are two original entrances on the west and east sides, about wide. From analysis of pottery sherds from the (now infilled) ditch, it is thought that the enclosure was in use in the 10th and 9th centuries BC.

Barrow

About south-east of the fort is the Bronze Age bowl barrow, known as Thunders Barrow. It was disturbed by the creation of a

dew pond A dew pond is an artificial pond usually sited on the top of a hill, intended for watering livestock. Dew ponds are used in areas where a natural supply of surface water may not be readily available. The name dew pond (sometimes cloud pond or mist ...

in 1873 and by earth-moving in 1964; a semi-circular mound remains, about in diameter and height up to .

Romano-British village

To the east and north of the fort are the buried remains of a Romano-British village. Excavation in 1932 found rectangular houses, dimensions about by ; coins and sherds of pottery were found, of date AD 50 to 400. On the southern, western and eastern sides of the ridge, over an area of about , a field system contemporary with the Romano-British village can be discerned from earthworks up to high and by crop marks visible from the air. The mainly rectangular fields have an average area of about .

References

{{Iron Age hillforts in England Hill forts in West Sussex Scheduled monuments in West Sussex Hills of West Sussex Bronze Age sites in West Sussex Iron Age sites in West Sussex