Monument record MBC48611 - IRON AGE/ROMAN SETTLEMENT, BISHOPSTONE

The cropmark remains of a possible later prehistoric or Roman settlement visible as a complex of rectilinear enclosures visible on aerial photographs at SP 7956 1004. Only part of the site is visible, but the main element is a rectilinear enclosure with straight sides and curved corners, measuring c.100m across. Within, at least one oblong enclosure and hints of other ditches can be seen. Further fragments of enclosure and ditch can be seen outside the main enclosure (1).
This record includes National Record of the Historic Environment Information provided by Historic England on 4 June 2025 licensed under the Open Government Licence (2).

An Iron Age and/or Roman settlement is visible on historic aerial photographs as cropmarks and was mapped as part of the Aylesbury Vale Aerial Investigation and Mapping project (EBC18604). Located in a field about 835 metres SE of Chillboro Hill Farm and centred at SP 79521 10102, a palimpsest of linear ditches and rectilinear enclosures suggest a settlement. To the W a curving double ditch, each up to 2.5 metres wide and about 10 metres apart, extends about 140 metres SSW-NNE. To the E of this is a complex of overlapping ditches, pits and ditch sections, along with a possible curvilinear ditched enclosure. To the E of the settlement is a large L-shaped ditch that may be part of a large rectilinear enclosure: a linear ditch up to 1.5 metres wide extends 78 metres SW-NE, turning 90 degrees to the SE for 68 metres. Within the ‘L’ are further ditches that suggests a further enclosure at a slightly different orientation. From the immediate surrounding area has been recovered numerous Iron Age and Roman dated finds, inferring a multi-phase settlement within these periods (3-4).