Projects
Wandlebury Hill Fort
Introduction
The project at Wandlebury involved an assessment inside and outside the ringwork of the extent, nature, date and palaeo-environmental context of associated settlement. This revealed that there was extensive settlement on the eastern side of the ringwork, both just outside and within the ramparts, that pre-dated, was contemporary with and post-dated the construction of the two- phase ring work between about 500 BC and AD 250. The work was carried out as a training excavation for Dept of Archaeology second year undergraduates in conjunction with CAU staff. A full report has been published in
- French, C.A.I., 2004–2005, `Evaluation, survey and excavation at Wandlebury Ringwork, Cambridgeshire, 1994–7.' Proceedings of the Cambridge Antiquarian Society XCIII, pp. 15xi–66
Wandlebury Iron Age hillfort and the Gogmagog estate occupy a prominent position below the crest, on the south facing slope, of Gogmagog Hill.
Although Neolithic and Bronze Age hilltop occupation is known from pottery and stone artefacts, the form of this early settlement is still unclear. It is not until the 5th century BC that the first signs of intensive settlement are evident, when large groups of storage pits were cut into the chalk in the southern third of Varley's Field, over an area of at least 150 square metres.
400BC
Shortly afterwards, the first ringwork was constructed, cutting through the area of the pits and enclosing an area of about 6 hectares, 330 metres in diameter. It consisted of a substantial outer ditch, about 6 metres wide and 5 metres deep, and inner rampart of chalk rubble and soil, perhaps of 10 metres width and 3 metres high. It was broken by a major entranceway to the east, which seems to have remained in use until the 19th century. This display of earthmoving and enclosure signifies both a centralised control of human resources, and a powerful stronghold following a tradition widely seen across north-western Europe at this time.
Contemporary earlier Iron Age settlement evidence has been found both inside and outside the hill-fort on its eastern side through excavations in 1955-6 and 1994-7.
50BC
In the 1st century BC, a second ditch and bank circuit of similar dimensions was dug on the interior side of the first rampart and ditch. At the same time the outer ditch may have been cleaned out, with this material forming a wide but low outer or counterscarp bank around the perimeter. By this time, settlement contemporary with the hill-fort appears to have shifted southwards, down-slope, and other similar ringwork sites had been built nearby at War Ditches, Cherry Hinton, and Arbury on the north side of Cambridge.
Considerable evidence of Roman occupation has been found within the eastern entranceway of the hill-fort and beneath the site of Gogmagog House, but no direct evidence of buildings has yet been found.
Late Use
Beyond the 3rd century AD, the history of use of the site becomes harder to trace. The monument saw occasional use in the earlier medieval period as a hundred meeting place. But by the late 17th century, stables existed here and in the 18th/19th centuries became the home of the Earls Godolphin. From 1894 until 1954 the estate passed through a series of owners before being acquired by the Cambridge Preservation Trust, who continue to own and manage the park estate and the hill-fort for everyone.