Pilsdon Pen
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Pilsdon Pen | |
|---|---|
 Looking south from the SE end of Pilsdon Pen |
|
| Elevation | 277 m (909 ft) |
| Location | West Dorset, England |
| Topo map | OS Landranger 193 |
| OS grid reference | ST413011 |
Pilsdon Pen is a 277 metre (909 ft) hill in West Dorset, England. The hill is situated five miles west of Beaminster at the north end of the Marshwood Vale. The hill is a granite outcrop situated amongst marl and clay, at the border between the chalk of South-East England and the granite of Devon and Cornwall. The hill is topped by an Iron Age multivallate Durotrigian hill fort which was excavated in the 1960s by Peter Gelling of the University of Birmingham at the request of Michael Pinney. The hill is one of the highest in Dorset and has views as far as Lyme Bay eight miles to the South. It was bequeathed to the National Trust by the Pinney family in 1982.
There are differing views as to the age of the rectilinear (square) structures in the centre, best seen in the National Trust report photo below, possibly medieval "Pillow Mounds" (Man made mounds for breeding rabbits), or earlier origins. Gelling thought there was a case they were earlier, the National Trust in the 1982 excavations (Which restored them to the pre Gelling excavation profile) viewed them as medieval. Additional rectilinear structures are noted in the 1999 National Trust Resistivity survey. (Unpublished).
[edit] External links
- The Dorset Page
- Aerial Archaeology
- The modern antiquarian
- National Trust report
- Photos from Geograph
- The NT sign at the start of the path (Feb 2008)
[edit] References
- GELLING, P. S. 1977: Excavations on Pilsdon Pen, Dorset, 1964-71. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 43, 263-286.
- Publications of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society - Excavations at Pilsdon Pen, P.S.Gelling, 86 102; 87 90; 88 106-107; 89 123-125; 90 166-167; 91 177-178; 92 126-127; 93 133-134
- Publications of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society - Excavations at Pilsdon Pen Hillfort, 1982, D.W.R.Thackray, 104 178-179
 This Dorset location article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
