Scratchbury Camp

Scratchbury Camp
Scratchbury Camp, as viewed from Battlesbury Hill
Shown within Wiltshire
Location	Wiltshire
Region	Southern England
Coordinates	51.1969°N 2.1288°W / 51.1969; -2.1288
Type	Univallate hillfort
Area	37 acres (15 ha)
History
Material	Chalk
Periods	Bronze Age, Iron Age
Associated with	Belgae
Site notes
Excavation dates	1810, 1930, 1957
Archaeologists	E.C.Curwen W.F.Grimes William Cunnington Sir Richard Colt Hoare
Condition	good
Public access	footpaths

Scratchbury Camp is the site of an Iron Age univallate hillfort located on Scratchbury Hill, near the village and civil parish of Norton Bavant in Wiltshire. The fort covers an area of 37 acres (15 ha) and occupies the summit of the hill on the edge of Salisbury Plain, with its four-sided shape largely following the natural contours of the hill.

The Iron Age hillfort dates to around 100 BC, but contains the remains of an earlier and smaller D-shaped enclosure or camp. The age of this earlier earthwork is currently subject to debate, and has been variously interpreted due to the inconclusive and incomplete nature of previous and differing excavation records; it may be early Iron Age dating to around 250 BC, but it has also been interpreted as being Bronze Age, dating to around 2000 BC.

There are seven Tumuli located within the enclosure of the fort, which were excavated in the 19th Century by Sir Richard Colt Hoare and William Cunnington. Finds from excavations at that time included for relics of bone, pottery, flint, brass, and amber jewellery, most of which can be seen today at the Wiltshire Heritage Museum in Devizes. In addition other items of interest have been found in and around the site including Roman artefacts and neolithic flint and jade axe heads.

The site is listed on Wiltshire Council's Sites and Monuments Record number ST94SW200, and is also a scheduled monument number SM10213. The hillfort falls within a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest, designated as Scratchbury & Cotley Hills SSSI, which encompasses a total of 53.5 hectares (132 acres), being first SSSI notified in 1951.

Etymology

The name of the hill is likely to be derived from the words scratch, an old West Country word for the Devil; and bury, from the Old English word beorg, meaning a mound or hill, or sometimes a defense; although it could also be derived from burh, meaning a fortified town or a defended site.

Background

Further information: Hill fort

Hill forts developed in the Late Bronze and Early Iron Age, roughly the start of the first millennium BC. The reason for their emergence in Britain, and their purpose, has been a subject of debate. It has been argued that they could have been military sites constructed in response to invasion from continental Europe, sites built by invaders, or a military reaction to social tensions caused by an increasing population and consequent pressure on agriculture. The dominant view since the 1960s has been that the increasing use of iron led to social changes in Britain. Deposits of iron ore were located in different places to the tin and copper ore necessary to make bronze, and as a result trading patterns shifted and the old elites lost their economic and social status. Power passed into the hands of a new group of people. Archaeologist Barry Cunliffe believes that population increase still played a role and has stated "[the forts] provided defensive possibilities for the community at those times when the stress [of an increasing population] burst out into open warfare. But I wouldn't see them as having been built because there was a state of war. They would be functional as defensive strongholds when there were tensions and undoubtedly some of them were attacked and destroyed, but this was not the only, or even the most significant, factor in their construction".

Description

Iron Age Hillfort

Pencil sketch of Scratchbury camp by Sir Richard Colt-Hoare, 1810, The Ancient History of Wiltshire, Vol.i, p.70

The steeply contoured sides of Scratchbury Hill form natural defenses to the north, west and southwestern sides, and in part to a small area of the eastern flank. Elsewhere on the hill the contours are less steep and afford easier access, with the southeastern boundary merging into the adjacent Cotley Hill with only a small change in level. The Iron Age fortifications at Scratchbury Camp comprise of a single large ditch and rampart to the most steeply contoured flanks, with some secondary counterscarps to the more accessible sides. The fort, as measured from the ramparts, has a circumfrence of 1,846 yd (1,688 m)

The inner earthworks are typical of a "quarry-ditch" formation, whereby the material excavated from the inner ditch is used to create the rampart. The fortifications are best preserved on the western side of the hill where the ditch is between 5 and 8 metres (16 and 26 ft) wide and up to 1 metre (3.3 ft) deep. The banks and ditches are generally uneven in height and depth, which is thought to be evidence for a 'gang dug' construction of the earthworks. Elsewhere, the enclosure is defined by a bank 3 to 6 metres (9.8 to 20 ft) in height above the ditch bottom, the ditch being 4 to 6 metres (13 to 20 ft) wide and up to 0.5 metres (1.6 ft) deep. On parts of the eastern side of the fort the ditch is absent and is replaced by a ledge of between 3 to 8 metres (9.8 to 26 ft) wide. There are two original entrances to the fort on the eastern side, and a possible third on the northwest side.

Much of the north and west areas of the interior appear to have been densely settled, as demonstrated by the traces of approximately 100 probable structures. These survive mainly as shallow circular hollows of between 5 to 10 metres (16 to 33 ft) in diameter and up to 0.6 metres (2.0 ft) deep. The best preserved is a rectangular platform immediately within the southern terminal of the western entrance. The location and unusual morphology suggests a special function for this structure, and it is perhaps plausible that a 'guard chamber' or sentry was positioned here.

Detail of the northeast flank earthwork defenses at Scratchbury Camp

Earlier Enclosure

Within the centre of the hillfort lies the remains of an earlier and smaller D-shaped inner earthwork enclosure of circa 3.5 hectares (8.6 acres), and excavated by E.C.Curwen in 1930. Today, all that really remains of this enclosure is one well defined lynchet of approximately 0.5 metres (1.6 ft) high along the southern section. This feature bears a resemblance to a similar such enclosure at Yarnbury Castle, and was originally interpreted by Curwen to be a Neolithic causewayed enclosure due to its interrupted nature, and the discovery at the site of jade and flint axes.

Subsequent excavations by W.F.Grimes in 1957 re-interpreted this feature to be an earlier Iron Age enclosure dating to approximately 250 BC, with Iron Age pottery found within the primary fill. It was therefore speculated that the visible interruptions have been made by post Medieval ploughing. Faint traces of a remnant bank survive along the north and west sections, and an adjoining ditch has a causewayed nature, and survives in short segments varying between 30 to 50 metres (98 to 160 ft) in length. There is also evidence of a single original west facing entrance currently discernable as a 15 metres (49 ft) wide gap in the enclosure boundary. The straight southeastern side of the enclosure is formed by a ditch that is truncated by the main hillfort boundary, and this again has been interpreted as further evidence that the linear ditch and contiguous enclosure pre-date the main hillfort.

However, more recent aerial and photographic surveys have meant that W.F.Grimes' re-interpretation may have been in error. A detailed survey undertaken between 1994 and 1995 by the field survey teams of the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England have suggested that the feature is in fact more likely to be a Neolithic causewayed enclosure as originally interpreted by E.C.Curwen. One possible explanation for the apparent confusion in dating this feature is that Grimes may not have excavated fully to the primary fill. The surveys suggest that the feature clearly has causeways, and low winter sun photography shows that the enclosure continues beyond what was previously believed to be its eastern edge, to form a sub-circular rather than D-shaped enclosure feature. The 'crop mark' visible on aerial photographs shows a continuation of the curve to the southeast of the straight side, thus roughly completing a circle. It should be noted that this feature has also been interpreted as a possible base for a palisaded enclosure. There is also a probable link between the likely neolithic causewayed enclosure and the surrounding barrow cemetery, which would have followed later.

Panoramic view of Scratchbury Hill, as viewed from the northwest. The hillfort earthworks are clearly visible crowning the hill.

Later Features

There is also a Romano-British or later ditch, running east to west, which turns south sharply at the southwest corner of the hillfort, and which partly overlies the earlier Iron Age earthworks. The main ramparts appear to have been built in the 1st century BC.

Construction Phases

The archaeological evidence suggests that Scratchbury Camp was built in at least two but perhaps three phases. The 1st phase is the defined by the curvilinear portion of the interior 'D'-shaped enclosure.

Drawing of finds from the Scratchbury Grave Group, 1869; William Pilsbury after Richard Colt-Hoare (1758–1838); Watercolour on paper, 26.7 x 17.8 (cm); located at the Society of Antiquaries of London

Whether there were distinct 2nd and 3rd Iron Age phases, or merely a re-alignment in the 2nd phase is unclear. The scarp subdividing the early fort is a possible indication of a 2nd phase, but may have been the setting out for a bank that was never utilised. In its 3rd and final phase it seems possible that the fort, having been 'laid out' to include the large barrow, was then further extended to encompass the whole of the top of the hill in order to make full defensive use of the natural slopes and resulting in the present day configuration.

Archaeology

Excavations at the site have revealed many items from Neolithic, Bronze Age, Iron Age and Romano British periods. Most of the various finds discovered are now preserved at the Wiltshire Heritage Museum in Devizes.

Most recently Professor William Francis Grimes partially excavated the inner earthworks on the site in the 1950s. Finds included for Iron Age pottery. In 1880 two Bronze Age axes were found at the site. A Roman bronze spoon was found on the site in 1804.

Sir Richard Colt Hoare also records the discoveries of a neolithic jade axe and a ground flint axe with 'British and Roman' pottery inside the camp, as excavated by William Cunnington in 1802. The flint axe is of polished white flint, with the end re-chipped, and was found at the entrance to Scratchbury Camp. It measures 86 mm (3.4 in) long, by 63 mm (2.5 in) wide, and 25 mm (0.98 in) high.

The hillfort also contains seven tumuli within its boundaries, which were excavated between 1802 and 1804 by Sir Richard Colt Hoare and William Cunnington. However, as the three-age system had not yet been introduced, they were unable to date their finds and therefore at a disadvantage when trying to interpret them. The tumuli were re-recorded in the 1957 surveys by W.F.Grimes. Full details and descriptions from the reports and writings of Sir Richard Colt-Hoare, and William Cunnington are given in the table below:

A record of the tumuli located within Scratchbury Camp and associated finds

Wiltshire Heritage Museum ref name	R.Colt-Hoare ref no.	Type	Diameter	Height	Images	Description
Norton Bavant Tumuli G1	1	Bowl Barrow	81 ft (25 m)	3 ft (0.91 m)		Contained an interment of burned bones, and with which was deposited a small lance head, or dagger of brass, a large amber ring, a piece of brass two to three inches long and resembling a screw, another piece of twisted brass, and more than fifty amber beads (identified as belonging to amber class 2 or 3). Also located close to this was a pile of ashes intermixed with fragments of burned bones.
Norton Bavant Tumuli G2	2	Bowl barrow	45 ft (14 m)	3.5 ft (1.1 m)		Found to contain burned bones and some articles fashioned from bone, two of which were about 2 in (51 mm) long, and flat, and the third was either a pin or arrow head, neatly polished to a very sharp point.
Norton Bavant Tumuli G3	3	Bowl barrow	36 ft (11 m)	2 ft (0.61 m)		No recorded finds.
Norton Bavant Tumuli G4	7	Bowl barrow	100 ft (30 m)	10 ft (3.0 m)		The largest tumuli on the site and very conspicuous from the road below. It contained finds of fragments of antlers, boar's teeth, charcoal and large numbers of burnt stones, but no interment. The large quantity of stones that had undergone the action of fire seems to indicate that this was a sepulchral barrow, in which the ceremony of cremation was performed.
Norton Bavant Tumuli G4a	6	Bowl barrow	unknown	unknown		No recorded finds.
Norton Bavant Tumuli G4b	4	Bowl barrow	15 ft (4.6 m)	0.25 ft (0.076 m)		No recorded finds.
Norton Bavant Tumuli G4c	5	Bowl barrow	30 ft (9.1 m)	1.5 ft (0.46 m)		Found to contain a few burned bones at some distance from the centre.

There are several other tumuli located on the adjacent and co-joined Cotley Hill, on the crown of that hill itself is a further Bronze Age tumuli surrounded by an Iron Age enclosure.

Geography

1817 Ordnance Survey Map of Scratchbury Camp

Scratchbury is located on the edge of the chalk plateau of Salisbury Plain, and within the area of Norton Bavant Chalk Downland Edge, as described by the West Wiltshire Landscape Character Assessment. Forming part of a system of chalk downlands throughout eastern and southern England formed by the rocks of the Chalk Group, the landscape is underlain by a combination of Lower, Middle and Upper Chalk supporting shallow well drained calcareous silty soils over chalk on slopes and crests. Typically these landscapes may be described as 'dramatic', due to their local scale, visual aesthetic and undulating nature. Escarpments are often formed where layers of chalk have been compressed to form a fold, or where the chalk has been faulted, resulting in accelerated erosion along the line of the weakness.

For the Norton Bavant Chalk Downland Edge, the 'character' of this area encompasses three distinctive, steeply sloping hills (Middle Hill, Scratchbury Hill, and Cotley Hill), which form a distinct and somewhat isolated unit of Chalk Downland Edge. The hills are covered with long fields, which are predominantly arable, with occasional patches of rough remnant chalk grassland and scrub situated on the top of the hills. Many chalk grassland slopes in England show the mark of centuries of grazing by sheep, the slopes bearing a stepped or striped appearance formed by a mixture of soil creep and sheep paths, and such erosion is visible on the slopes of Scratchbury Hill. Regular patches and belts of mixed woodland populate parts of the lower slopes. Imber range perimeter paths run across the top of the hills, providing public access to the area.

Ecology

Scratchbury Camp as viewed from the southwest: the distinctive features of Scratchbury Hill, including the ramparts of the hill fort and one of the taller barrows, are clearly defined

Scratchbury is located in an area of unimproved grassland on the edge of Salisbury Plain, which is the largest remaining area of calcareous grassland in north-west Europe. The local area supports a rich and diverse grassland flora and an important associated butterfly fauna, which led to it being declared a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in 1951. Designated as Scratchbury & Cotley Hills SSSI, the site encompasses a total of 53.5 hectares (132 acres).

The grassland generally is dominated by Sheep's Fescue Festuca ovina, Red Fescue Festuca rubra and Upright Brome Bromus erectus. There are also several varieties of herbs characteristic to the Wiltshire downland, including for Devil's Bit Scabious Succisa pratensis, Saw-wort Serratula tinctoria and Chalk Milkwort Polygala calcarea There are also many other native and site specific plants, including for orchids, meadow grasses, nettles, and other flora.

Within the hillfort, a richer, more mesotrophic grassland is present, most probably reflecting past agricultural use and improvement. There are also small areas of Hawthorn Crataegus monogyna, and Elder Sambucus scrub, particularly along the lower slopes of the downland and on the earthworks. These provide valuable shelter for invertebrates on an otherwise open and exposed site.

The Adonis Blue Butterfly can be found on and around Scratchbury Camp

The site is of high entomological interest, with 29 varieties of resident breeding species of butterfly recorded. The horseshoe vetch Hippocrepis comosa is locally plentiful and supports both the Chalkhill Blue Lysandra coridon and the Adonis Blue Lysandra bellargus butterflies. Other butterfly species to be found on and around the site include for the Duke of Burgundy Hamaeris lucina, the Grizzled Skipper Pyrgus malvae, the Dark Green Fritillary Argynnis aglaja and the Small Blue Cupido minimus.

Other insect groups on the site are less well surveyed, but several rare species have been noted, including for six species of weevil Curculionoidea, eight species of plant bugs, Hemiptera and Homoptera; and two species of Chrysomelid beetle, Apthona herbigrada and Mantura matthewsii, both of which feed on the rock rose Helianthemum. Day flying moths recorded include for the Wood Tiger Parasemia plantaginis and the rare Forester Moth Adscita globulariae.

Poetry

Siegfried Sassoon

The English poet and author Siegfried Sassoon, (1886–1967), who lived nearby at Heytesbury House, wrote about Scratchbury Camp, subtly capturing the ambience of the Wiltshire Downs on a summers day, whilst touching on the pervasive military presence of that age and the historical timelessness of the area:

Along the grave green downs, this idle afternoon,
shadows of loitering silver clouds, becalmed in blue,
bring, like unfoldment of a flower, the best of June.

Shadows outspread in spacious movement, always you
have dappled the downs and valleys at this time of year,
while larks, ascending shrill, praised freedom as they flew.

Now, through that song, a fighter squadron's drone I hear
from Scratchbury Camp, whose turfed and cowslip'd rampart seems
more hill than history, ageless and oblivion-blurred.

I walk the fosse, once manned by bronze and flint head spear;
on war's imperious wing the shafted sun ray gleams:
one with the warm sweet air of summer stoops the bird.

Cloud shadows, drifting slow like heedless daylight dreams,
dwell and dissolve; uncircumstanced they pause and pass.
I watch them go. My horse, contented, crops the grass.

—Siegfried Sassoon, On Scratchbury Camp, 1942, from Collected Poems 1908–1956.

Location

The site is located at grid reference ST912442, to the east of the town of Warminster, and to the north of the village and civil parish of Norton Bavant, in the county of Wiltshire. The hill has a summit of 197 m (646 ft) AOD. Nearby to the northwest lies Middle Hill, and further northwest the hillfort of Battlesbury Camp, on Battlesbury Hill. To the southeast lies Cotley Hill. The site and surrounding downs are easily accessible by public footpath, the Wessex Ridgeway and the Imber Range perimeter path follow the northern ramparts of the fort, however care must be taken not to stray into the Military Firing ranges of Salisbury Plain immediately to the northeast. Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty lies to the south.

Further reading

• [1] Wiltshire Heritage Museum records for Scratchbury Camp and Tumuli.
• [2] Photograph of Scratchbury Camp finds, from Society of Antiquaries website.
• [3] English Heritage Pastscape page for Scratchbury Camp. (Monument number: 211396)
• [4] English Heritage Pastscape page for the Scratchbury Camp barrow group (Monument number 211401)
• [5] Wiltshire Walks no.8: Norton Bavant and Scratchbury Hill (5.3 km/ 3.25 miles, 1 hour, Moderate)

See also

• List of places in Wiltshire
• List of hill forts in England
• List of hill forts in Scotland
• List of hill forts in Wales