Scheduled Monument: Promontory Fort East Of Peckforton Mere (1013481)

EXTRACT FROM ENGLISH HERITAGE'S RECORD OF SCHEDULED MONUMENTS MONUMENT: Promontory fort east of Peckforton Mere PARISH: PECKFORTON DISTRICT: CREWE AND NANTWICH COUNTY: CHESHIRE NATIONAL MONUMENT NO: 25703 NATIONAL GRID REFERENCE(S): SJ54305767 DESCRIPTION OF THE MONUMENT The monument includes a promontory fort on the east side of Peckforton Mere. The mere used to be much larger during the prehistoric period and this promontory would have jutted out into it. The River Gowy originally flowed out of the mere on the north side and this formed the northern defence of the fort. The present stream course lies further north than the original river and has been diverted by recent drainage operations. The fort has a bank and external ditch cutting off a piece of high ground which used to be a promontory and curving around it on the north and south sides, leaving the west side open to be defended in antiquity by the mere and the old course of the Gowy. The original bank and ditch are only partially visible as upstanding earthworks. They have been much reduced by ploughing and in places the line of the infilled ditch is only visible on aerial photographs. Where it does survive as an earthwork the bank is 16m wide and only 0.3m high. The ditch is 13m wide and 0.5m deep at its centre. Around 180m of the bank and ditch survives as upstanding earthworks; the remaining 280m length of defences is only visible on aerial photographs. The area thus enclosed is about 0.35ha in extent. ASSESSMENT OF IMPORTANCE Promontory forts are a type of hillfort in which conspicuous naturally defended sites are adapted as enclosures by the construction of one or more earth or stone ramparts placed across the neck of a spur in order to divide it from the surrounding land. Coastal situations, using headlands defined by steep natural cliffs, are common while inland similar topographic settings defined by natural cliffs are also used. The ramparts and accompanying ditches formed the main artificial defence, but timber palisades may have been erected along the cliff edges. Access to the interior was generally provided by an entrance through the ramparts. The interior of the fort was used intensively for settlement and related activities, and evidence for timber- and stonewalled round houses can be expected, together with the remains of buildings used for storage and enclosures for animals. Promontory forts are generally Iron Age in date, most having been constructed and used between the sixth century BC and the mid-first century AD. They are broadly contemporary with other types of hillfort. They are regarded as settlements of high status, probably occupied on a permanent basis, and recent interpretations suggest that their construction and choice of location had as much to do with display as defence. Promontory forts are rare nationally with less than 100 recorded examples. In view of their rarity and their importance in the understanding of the nature of social organisation in the later prehistoric period, all examples with surviving archaeological remains are considered nationally important. This fort survives reasonably well in spite of the ploughing which has reduced some of its defences. It is small compared to a very similar site at Oakmere in Cheshire. The enclosed area is enough to support a collection of buildings for a single family settlement rather than a larger farming village. The ditch and the interior will contain important remains and will provide information on the domestic economy and farming practices of its inhabitants. MONUMENT INCLUDED IN THE SCHEDULE ON 11th September 1995