Monument record 0632102002 - Taplow Hillfort: Iron Age Rampart

In advance of the construction of a new Chanting Hall, an archaeological evluation was carried out in 1998 by Wessex Archaeology. The evaluation found Mesolithic flint work, a late Bronze Age feature, and three large ditches. Oxford Archaeology were subsequently commissioned to undertake a wider investigation in 1999. A large spread of burnt gravel 8m wide and up to 0.4m high was interpretted as the remains of an Iron Age rampart running to the rear (west) of a large Iron Age hillfort ditch. Surviving in a couple of places were lines of charcoal indicating substantial burnt timbers. In the largest burnt area short lengths of preserved charred roundwood were found at right angles to one another, suggesting that they formed a timber framework or lacing for the rampart, which at some point had been fired and partly collapsed into the ditch. A single course of chalk slabs 0.6m wide may be the remains of a rampart facing or footings for a timber facing (B1).
The rampart associated with the U-profile ditch was constructed directly above the standstill layer within the hollow that was all that remained of the Late Bronze Age V-profiled ditch. All that survived of the rampart were the truncated deposits that had been protected within this hollow. Because of this truncation, the width of the surviving rampart deposits (5.3-6.3m) was probably less than the original width of the rampart. Its front edge may have been retained by a chalk kerb or wall - a metre further east than the surviving rampart deposits. Very little chalk was found in the U-profiled ditch, suggesting it was not a high revetment wall - it may have been used to fill gaps in a timber revetment? The rampart was timber-laced and had been burnt at some point. The surviving charcoal showed that the timbers of roundwood had been split into two. Almost all of the timber was of oak. Most were placed transversely in the rampart, quite closely spaced. These may have formed a raft to stop the rampart subsiding into the hollow of the V-profiled ditch. A few pieces were placed longitudinally along the eastern side. Three post-holes were also found cutting into the centre of the rampart at the southern end, and it is thought that there may have been a row of posts along the centre of the whole rampart. If these were tall enough and stood up above the rampart, there may have been a walkway behind them. There may have been further timbers higher up in the rampart, and the levels of burning of the gravel deposits suggest that there was a lot more timber. The rampart may have been an upturned V-profile, with a row of posts along the apex; or it may have been revetted with chalk and/or timber so that the front was straight. The minimum width of this rampart is about 7m, from the chalk kerb to the back of the surviving deposits. If it was a box rampart it may have been 2.17m tall; if it was a triangular rampart, it could have been up to 4.3m tall, based on the amount of soil available from the ditch. The rampart was destroyed by burning. Residual Late Bronze Age pottery and loomweights were found in the rampart gravels (B2).