Small Down Knoll
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Small Down Knoll, or Small Down Camp, is a Bronze Age hill fort near Evercreech in Somerset, England. The hill is on the southern edge of the Mendip Hills, and rises to 222 m (728 ft).
Finds of flints indicate a prehistoric Mesolithic occupation.
The fort has multiple ramparts (multivallate) following the contours of the hilltop, enclosing an area of about 2.4 ha (6 acres). Most of the perimeter is a double rampart, but the flatter eastern side has an extra counterscarp rampart with well-defined double ditches. There are two entrances to the south-east: one is a simple opening with evidence of a guardhouse; and the other shows linear features of a holloway.
The fort contains about 14 round barrows (tumuli), which form a line of burials running east-west along the crest of the hill. The fort and the barrows appear to be Bronze Age, but excavations have found some Iron Age pottery in the barrows and the ditches.
The fort is near the Fosse Way Roman road. The name of the nearby village of Stoney Stratton means on the stoney stone paved road, which implies there was also a local Roman road in the area, but there are no Roman or post-Roman remains on the site.
The fort was excavated in 1904 by Mr. H. St. George Hay, the finds included flints, pottery, and burials sites with human remains.
The hill fort is currently an Open Access area under a DEFRA scheme which expires in 2007.
[edit] References
- The Victoria History of Somerset, Vol II: Ancient Earthworks (1911)
- Somerset Historic Environment Record site records:
