Castle Bank Hillfort
Castle Bank is an impressive Iron Age hillfort south of the Crossway to Hundred House road. It occupies a commanding site on a North-south ridge overlooking what was probably an east-west route in use in the Bronze Age. It is a complex site with stone “walls”, unusual in hillforts but necessitated by the sparse coving of the bed rock and a plentiful supply of stones. The walls are strongest on the western side as the western side is well protected by the steep slope.
The elongated fort consists of a main section, which may itself consist of an original plus an extension, and an outlying enclosure. Within the main section are a number of eroded house platforms.
The north and south entrances would have been impressive structures. The north end is cut by a much later boundary bank which is part of an extensive bank encompassing much of the common.
The aerial photographs below with others taken are the most detailed and revealing ever taken of the site.
[Click on any image to enlarge]
