Monument record 0124501000 - Ivinghoe Beacon Ramparts

Plan Form - triangular
Scheduled Ancient Monument 9067. The Ivinghoe Beacon style of timber strengthening is a rough grid with cross bracing (9). Discussion continues on whether timber defences really did exist at the site (B13). The ramparts weathered rapidly after building (B6). A geophysical survey carried out as part of a student project is believed to show evidence of a palisade rebuilt over time (B16). English Heritage's Earthwork Survey Report of November 2000, suggests that the instigation of the box rampart is indicative of the site developing to form of a chain of hill forts in the late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age with Ravensburgh Castle, Maiden Bower and Wilbury Hill. The ramparts are still 2m high in places and excavation suggests that the main ditch was once 3.1m wide by 2.2m deep on the north side, with a second outer ditch present to the south. The earthworks are not shown on estate or tithe maps. Nor are they shown on the first OS map of 1884, although the barrow is noted. The fort was first mapped in 1925 (B17).