Woodbury Hill is a hill near the village of
Great Witley
Great Witley is a village and civil parish in the Malvern Hills District in the northwest of the county of Worcestershire, England. It is situated around ten miles to the north west of the city of Worcester. The parish had a population of 743 i ...
, about south-west of
Stourport-on-Severn
Stourport-on-Severn, often shortened to Stourport, is a town and civil parish in the Wyre Forest (district), Wyre Forest District of North Worcestershire, England, 4 miles to the south of Kidderminster and downstream on the River Severn from Be ...
in
Worcestershire
Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Shropshire, Staffordshire, and the West Midlands (county), West ...
, England. It is the site of 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 ...
.
Description
The hill overlooks the
River Teme
The River Teme (pronounced ; ) rises in Mid Wales, south of Newtown, and flows southeast roughly forming the border between England and Wales for several miles through Knighton before entering England in the vicinity of Bucknell and continu ...
to the south-west. The fort (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 ...
) has a single rampart with an external ditch. It has dimensions of about west to east and north to south, enclosing an area of about . There is an entrance with inturned ramparts at the south-west, and other entrances. A track leads north to south through the site.
['Parishes: Great Witley', in ''A History of the County of Worcester: Volume 4'', ed. William Page and J W Willis-Bund (London, 1924), pp. 372-375]
British History Online. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
History
The fort is called "Owen Glendower's Camp".
[ In 1405 it was the site of a standoff between the Welsh/French army of ]Owain Glyndŵr
Owain ap Gruffydd (28 May 135420 September 1415), commonly known as Owain Glyndŵr (Glyn Dŵr, , anglicised as Owen Glendower) was a Welsh people, Welsh leader, soldier and military commander in the Wales in the late Middle Ages, late Middle ...
and the army of King Henry IV of England
Henry IV ( – 20 March 1413), also known as Henry Bolingbroke, was King of England from 1399 to 1413. Henry was the son of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster (a son of King Edward III), and Blanche of Lancaster.
Henry was involved in the 1388 ...
. The armies took up battle positions, the English on Abberley Hill and the Welsh and French on Woodbury Hill. They never engaged in battle; with their supply routes blocked, the Welsh began to starve. Henry stood down his army, and the Welsh army headed home.
During the English Civil War
The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...
, local peasants met here to form a clubmen
Clubmen were bands of local defence vigilantes during the English Civil War (1642–1651) who tried to protect their localities against the excesses of the armies of both sides in the war. They sought to join together to prevent their wives and ...
society to protect themselves from the ravages of both the Royalist and Roundhead troops.Woodbury Hill (Worcestershire)
''The Megalithic Portal''. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
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 ...
References
{{Iron Age hillforts in England
Hill forts in Worcestershire
Scheduled monuments in Worcestershire