Monument record 868/2 - Late Saxon burh site at Eddisbury

Eddisbury is essentially comprised of three areas; the main body of the hillfort including an entrance on the eastern line of the rampart, the north-western end adjacent to Old Pale Farm including a second entrance, and Merrick’s Hill to the south-east (or the Chamber in the Forest) where medieval reoccupation included a royal hunting lodge. Eddisbury was first included on the Schedule in 1934.

There have been several surveys of Eddisbury beginning with the Ordnance Survey in the 19th century and later by Forde-Johnston in 1960 (4), Ferguson in 1977 (5), Longley in 1979 (6) and the RCHME in 1987 (7, 8). In addition, geophysical survey has been carried out on a number of occasions in 1990 (9), 2004 (10), 2006 (11) and in 2010 (13).

The earliest archaeological investigations by Varley in 1936 to 1938 comprised the excavation of four areas and a number of sections along the defences. Based on his findings, Varley identified seven broad phases of activity at Eddisbury that had been largely accepted until more recent excavations between 2010 and 2011. In general terms, Varley’s phasing consisted of an early palisade enclosure, possibly Bronze Age in date, covering Merrick’s Hill and the main area of the hillfort. This was subsequently replaced by a univallate (single rampart) hillfort, possibly including an extension to the west. Eddisbury was subsequently rebuilt as a bivallate hillfort with more complex defences and the addition of a second guard room at the eastern entrance. Varley also maintained that the hillfort was deliberately demolished in the Roman period. Reoccupation of the hillfort as an unenclosed settlement was then identified in the 4th-6th centuries before two phases of mid to late Saxon settlement culminating in the construction of a burh in AD 914 by Aethelflaeda. At the start of the medieval period, however, the burh had been laid waste and only Merrick’s Hill at the east end was re-occupied as a royal hunting lodge called the Chamber in the Forest. (2, 3) Subsequent work has challenged this phasing, however.

In 2009 a new project to study the hillforts of Cheshire included a new excavation of Eddisbury. The work was carried out in two phases between 2010 and 2011 and included 15 trenches across Merrick’s Hill and the main enclosure by volunteers under the guidance of the Habitats and Hillforts Project leader and Earthworks Archaeology (14) as well as a further five trenches at Merrick’s Hill by the University of Liverpool (15). The results provided more detailed phasing of activity at Eddisbury based on stratigraphic analysis as well as scientific dating including radiocarbon, archaeomagnetic and Optical Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) dating techniques.

The evidence suggested three phases of activity prior to the construction of the hillfort. Phase 1 comprised a possible pit and hearth dated to c.1870 BC (CHER 866/1/1). This was followed in around 770 BC by a palisade enclosure (CHER 866/1/2). Other pre-hillfort evidence included traces of at least one stone circular feature tentatively interpreted as either a hut or cairn. Phases 4 to 8 were identified as the period of occupation for the Iron Age hillfort (CHER 866/1/3), dated to between 410 BC and AD 130 and was followed by the ultimate abandonment of the hillfort in the transition between the Iron Age and the Roman period (Phase 9).

Phase 10 dates to around the mid 3rd to mid 4th century AD and appears to be Romano-British occupation of the interior (CHER 868/1) before the site was left again until the late 9th to 10th century (CHER 868/2) when Eddisbury was fortified as a burh site (Phase 11). The medieval period saw the eastern end of the hillfort reoccupied as the royal hunting lodge the ‘Chamber in the Forest’ (Phase 12) (CHER 837/1/2).

The recent excavations revealed the first definite evidence of activity at Eddisbury at the time of the burh with evidence of a clay oven cut into the earlier rampart. The oven was located in trench 7 in the north east corner of the hillfort and consisted of a construction pit only partially exposed. The pit had been lined with a clay deposit that had subsequently been fired to a biscuit hardness. This deposit was sample using archaeomagnetic dating that returned a last firing date of between 745 and 980 AD. The implications of this oven, however, are that the inner rampart at least did not form part of the defences for the Saxon settlement. (14)

It has been suggested that Eddisbury is the site of a burh recorded in the Mercian Register (CHER 868/2). Constructed by Aethelflaeda in AD 914 it is recorded as 'Eadesbyrig', however, aside from place-name evidence there is no further evidence linking this burh to Eddisbury (3)

<1> English Heritage, Various, Schedule Entry (Scheduled Ancient Monuments Amendment), SM25962 (Scheduling Record). SCH2950.

<2> Varley W J, 1950, Excavations at the Castle Ditch, Eddisbury, 1935-1938, 102/1-68 Varley W J 1950 (Article in Journal). SCH7299.

<3> Varley W J, 1937, Eddisbury and the Castle Ditch (Newsletter). SCH7296.

<4> Ordnance Survey, 1870-1982, Ordnance Survey Archaeological Record Card, SJ56NE11979 (Index). SCH2487.

<5> Forde-Johnston J, 1962, The Iron Age Hillforts of Lancashire and Cheshire (Article in Journal). SCH6913.

<6> Ferguson, A, 1977, Field survey of Eddisbury hillfort (Unpublished Report). SCH7297.

<7> Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England (RCHME), 1987, Castle Ditch hillfort, Eddisbury, Cheshire, reconsidered: The excavations of 1935-38 in the light of recent field survey (Monograph). SCH7298.

<8> Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England (RCHME), 1987, Castle Ditch (Eddisbury) hillfort, Archaeological Survey Report, R3560 (Client Report). SCH7305.

<9> Davies, M.G., 1990, The Castle Ditch, Eddisbury. A report of recent fieldwork and a reconsideration of occupation phasing (Unpublished Report). SCH7300.

<10> South Trafford Archaeology Group, 2004, Geophysical survey undertaken at Eddisbury hillfort by South Trafford Archaeology Group (Unpublished Report). SCH7301.

<11> Gifford and Partners, 2006, Old Pale, Delamere, Cheshire. An Archaeological Watching Brief, R2675 (Client Report). SCH5003.

<12> Gifford and Partners, 2006, Archaeological Recording At Eddisbury Hillfort, Delamere, Cheshire, R2607 (Client Report). SCH4655.

<13> Archaeophysica, 2010, Eddisbury Hillfort, Cheshire. Geophysical Survey Report (Client Report). SCH6436.

<14> Cheshire West and Chester Historic Environment Service, 2012, Report on an archaeological evaluation at Eddisbury Hillfort (DRAFT), R3556 (Unpublished Report). SCH7285.

<15> Mason, R, 2011, Excavations at Merrick's Hill, Eddisbury Hillfort 2011 (Unpublished Report). SCH7327.

<16b> Dodgson J McN, 1970-2, 1981, The Place-Names of Cheshire, 3/213 (Y) (Book). SCH3228.

<16a> Dodgson J McN, 1970-2, 1981, The Place-Names of Cheshire, vol .III p.213 (Book). SCH3228.

<16> Harris, B.E. (ed), 1987, Victoria County History - A History of the County of Chester: Volume I, /5-6 Thacker A 1985 (Book). SCH3556.