Monument record 0152500000 - BULSTRODE CAMP
Summary
Protected Status/Designation
- Ancient Monument BU11: Bulstrode Park Camp
- Planning Notification Area: Earthworks of Iron Age hillfort of Bulstrode Camp
Map
Type and Period (1)
- HILLFORT (Early Iron Age to Late Iron Age - 700 BC to 42 AD)
Description
Dimensions - Width 340m, Length 470m.
Plan Form - Ovoid.
Large plateau camp. Inner, outer rampart, ditch, except on W & NW where no outer ditch left. Flint wall footings on inner NW rampart. Gaps on E, S, NE but unclear if original (B1-11).
Excavated by C Fox & L Clarke but only hearth & 3 Iron Age sherds found (B7-9).
Watching briefs found little (B12-13).
OS 1:1250 hachuring inaccurate (B14).
The defences consist of an inner and outer rampart and ditch except on the W and NW sides where the outer ditch is obliterated. Low rectilienar earthwork scarps in the NW corner of the fort suggests the location of two buildings. The 1688 estate map shows a tree-lined avenue extending across the interior to gap in the eastern side (corrresponding with a 25m gap in the ramparts). However, it is also suggested that this break represents the most likely location for the original entrance (B15).
Geophysical survey carried out by John Gover of Reading University in summer 2002 identified the following: the north-south Medieval ridge and furrow system shows very clearly especially on the eastern half of the interior. There are faint indications of another NWN trending system in the SW quadrant. This ridge and furrow anomaly system is so dominant on the resistivity readings that it tends to mask other more subtle features. Despite the ridge and furrow there are indications of a number of possible prehistoric anomalies within the interior. These are mostly towards the margins and most common in the northern half of the site. The majority are circular - possible round houses - ranging in diameter from 9 - 16 metres. The most obvious are clustered in the NE quadrant. A few additional circular anomalies suggest themselves in other areas, but data confidence in these is low. There is one D enclosure some 20 by 30 metres in the NW quadrant with a possible assoicated hut circle in its interior. This could be a farm enclosure dating from the early to mid Iron Age. There are no indications from the survey of an entrance(s). Finally there is an indistinct structure aligned ENE some 60 by 15 metres in the SW quadrant. In style this could be the outline of a long barrow and would indicate Neolithic or Bronze Age activity on the site. This counld extend activity back some 1500 years or more. See report for detail (B18).
Salvage recording carried out by TVAS in August 2005 following damage to the ramparts identified 3 distinct layers within the hillfort bank, all of sandy gravels. It was not possible to establish the full extant of the bank to the west. Topographic survey differed significantly from that published by the OS (B19).
Negative fieldwork reports (B20-B22).
Sources (22)
- <1>SBC7842 Bibliographic reference: LIPSCOMB 4 P507.
- <2>SBC19727 Bibliographic reference: James Joseph Sheahan. 1862. History and Topography of Buckinghamshire. pp832-833.
- <3>SBC463 Bibliographic reference: ANTIQUARY (THE) 32 P102.
- <4>SBC20350 Bibliographic reference: A Hadrian Allcroft. 1908. Earthwork of England. p165.
- <5>SBC20461 Bibliographic reference: William Page (ed). 1908. A History of Buckinghamshire (Victoria County History) Volume II. Volume 2. p24.
- <6>SBC20466 Bibliographic reference: Royal Commision on Historical Monuments. 1912. Historical Monuments in Buckinghamshire. Volume 1. p160.
- <7>SBC5434 Article in serial: 1925. FOX C & CLARKE L C G 1925 'EXCAVATIONS IN BULSTRODE CAMP', IN RECS OF BUCKS 11 PP283-288 & ILLUS. Vol 11.
- <8>SBC13240 Article in serial: RECS OF BUCKS 15 1952 P277.
- <9>SBC6309 Bibliographic reference: HEAD J F 1955 EARLY MAN IN SOUTH BUCKS PP73-74, 116-117, 152..
- <10>SBC11162 Unpublished document: Ordnance Survey Field Investigator. OS RECORD CARD SU 98 NE 02 (& SURVEY)(FILED).
- <11>SBC14041 Scheduling record: HBMC. 1956. SCHEDULING LISTS OF INSPECTORATE OF ANCIENT MONUMENTS: SAM 11 (BUCKS).
- <12>SBC9186 Article in serial: MOORHOUSE S A 1969 (SEE NOTES ETC FILED) & RECS OF BUCKS 18 (1969) P324.
- <13>SBC5074 Unpublished document: FARLEY M E NOV 1975 (SEE NOTES, PLANS & CORRESPONDENCE, FILED).
- <14>SBC4978 Unpublished document: FARLEY M E DEC 1988 FIELD VISIT (SEE ANNOTATED MAP ETC FILED).
- <15>SBC20097 Unpublished document: RCHME. 1999. RCHME/EH survey of Bulstrode Camp.
- <16>SBC20100 Unpublished document: Mike Farley and English Heritage. 1989. Archive relating the the building of extension to Morary House.
- <17>SBC19714 Unpublished document: Thames Valley Archaeological Services. 2002. Woodside, 90 Camp Road, Gerrards Cross - An Archaeological Watching Brief.
- <18>SBC21000 Article in serial: John Gover. 2003. 'Bulstrode 'Iron Age' Camp Gerrards Cross: A Geophysical Survey', in Newsletter of the Chess Valley Archaeological and Historical Society.
- <19>SBC22450 Unpublished document: Thames Valley Archaeological Services. 2005. 92 Camp Road, Gerrards Cross: An Archaeological Recording Action.
- <20>SBC22632 Unpublished document: John Moore Heritage Services. 2006. An Archaeological Watching Brief at Wykehurst, 96 Camp Road, Gerrards Cross.
- <21>SBC23409 Unpublished document: John Moore Heritage Services. 2009. An Archaeological Watching Brief at 102 Camp Road, Gerrards Cross.
- <22>SBC24395 Unpublished document: John Moore Heritage Services. 2013. An Archaeological Evaluation at Garden Reach, 12 Camp Road, Gerrards Cross.
Location
Grid reference | Centred SU 9948 8802 (398m by 404m) |
---|---|
Civil Parish | GERRARDS CROSS, South Bucks, Buckinghamshire |
Finds (0)
Related Monuments/Buildings (1)
Related Events/Activities (5)
- Event - Intervention: Evaluation trial trenching (Ref: GRCR 13) (EBC17590)
- Event - Survey: Geophysical Survey (EBC16436)
- Event - Intervention: Salvage recording (Ref: CRGC 05/78) (EBC16618)
- Event - Intervention: Watching brief (Ref: GCCR 06) (EBC17185)
- Event - Intervention: Watching brief carried out at Woodside, 90 Camp Road, Gerrards Cross (Ref: WGC01/55) (EBC16301)
Record last edited
Oct 20 2024 5:24PM