Monument record 866/1/1 - Bronze Age activity at Eddisbury

Eddisbury is a bivallate (double rampart) hillfort situated on an outcrop of the Cheshire Sandstone Ridge overlooking the Weaver Valley to the east. Like many of the hillforts along the Ridge, it was constructed to make best use of the contemporary landscape by reinforcing the scarp on each side with a double rampart and intervening ditch. The defences survive quite prominently along the northern and north-western sides; however, they have been affected by plough damage and quarrying. The inner rampart is 15m wide and up to 6m high and is revetted with dry stone walling visible along the north face. The intervening ditch occupies some 10m width between the two ramparts and survives to a depth of 0.5m. The outer rampart is 16m wide at its base and rises to 5.5m high with no external ditch. The area enclosed by the defences is 5.4ha in extent.

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. The hillfort is well preserved around much of its defences despite some plough damage and quarrying activity. There is a strong potential for surviving below ground remains within the hillfort. (1)

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)

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). These surveys have added to our understanding of the surviving features of the hillfort through the identification of substantial quarrying along the southern line of the defences as well as the potential for further below ground features of archaeological interest.

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 (17) as well as a further five trenches at Merrick’s Hill by the University of Liverpool (18). 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.

Phase 4 was identified as the earliest phase of hillfort activity (CHER 866/1/3) with the construction of a primary inner rampart and segmental inner ditch; it is likely that the hillfort from the outset enclosed the entire extent of Eddisbury including Merrick’s Hill and the north-western end where the original entrance was located. This was followed by the addition of the primary phase outer rampart and outer ditch and may have also included the creation of the eastern entrance (Phase 5). A secondary phase of re-cutting of the inner rampart and ditch occurred soon (Phase 6) after followed by alterations to the eastern entrance. Evidence from both Varley’s excavations and the 2011 work suggested the southern guardroom at the eastern entrance was burnt down in Phase 7 with radiocarbon dating placing this at around 375 BC. The outer rampart and ditch were later re-cut in around AD 10-130 (Phase 8) 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 combined results of the recent work and a re-interpretation of Varley’s work suggests three phases of pre-rampart activity, the earliest coming from recent investigations along the northern line of the defences. Here a sub-circular pit [129] filled with a black charcoal rich silt was interpreted as a possible hearth feature along with a second pit or linear feature recorded in the section of the trench only [120]. Radiocarbon dating from the charcoal from the possible hearth suggested a date of between 1870-1640 cal BC. (17)

Although it is by no means clear, the approximate location of the hearth feature is close to a similar discovery by Varley in Area 2 of his excavations. (2)

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

<2> Varley W J, 1950, Excavations at the Castle Ditch, Eddisbury, 1935-1938 (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, SJ56NE1 1979 (Index). SCH2487.

<5> Forde-Johnston J, 1962, The Iron Age Hillforts of Lancashire and Cheshire, p.9-46 (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> National Museums & Galleries on Merseyside, 2005, An Archaeological Desk-Based Assessment of the Sandstone Ridge ECOnet Partnership. (Client Report). SCH4718.

<15> Oxford Archaeology North, 2007, Habitats and Hillforts of the Cheshire Sandstone Ridge, Cheshire: Archaeological Condition Survey (Client Report). SCH5260.

<16> Oxford Archaeology North, 2008, Habitats and Hillforts of the Cheshire sandstone Ridge: Archaeological Desk-Based Assessment (Client Report). SCH5259.

<17> Cheshire West and Chester Historic Environment Service, 2012, Report on an archaeological evaluation at Eddisbury Hillfort (DRAFT) (Unpublished Report). SCH7285.

<18> Mason, R, 2011, Excavations at Merrick's Hill, Eddisbury Hillfort 2011 (Unpublished Report). SCH7327.

<19> Varley W J, 1936, Recent investigations into the origins of Cheshire hill-forts (Article in Journal). SCH7314.

<20> Roeder, C, 1951, Prehistoric Glimpses of Eddisbury Hundred (Cheshire) (Article in Journal). SCH7313.

<21> Longley D, 1979, Prehistoric Sites in Cheshire, /43 (Report). SCH2719.

<22> Royal Archaeological Institute, 1845-Present, Archaeological Journal, 3/89-90 Cotton M A 1955 (Journal/Periodical). SCH338.

<23> Society of Antiquities London, 1921-2014, The Antiquaries Journal, 19/93+244 Varley W J (Journal/Periodical). SCH284.

<24> Lancashire & Cheshire Antiquarian Society, 1883 -, Transactions of the Lancashire & Cheshire Antiquarian Society, 51/51-59 Varley W J 1936 (Journal/Periodical). SCH3293.

<25> Forde-Johnston J, 1976, Hillforts of the Iron Age in England & Wales, /59.103 + 143 (Book). SCH1347.

<26> Challis A.J. & Harding D.W., 1975, Later Prehistory from the Trent to the Tyne: Catalogue and illustrations., 20/ii/44-45 Challis A J & Harding D W 1975 (Monograph). SCH7282.

<27> Shone W, 1911, Prehistoric Man in Cheshire, /57-58 (Book). SCH2710.

<28> Longley D, 1977-1978, Longley Archive, /no.458 & 460 (Paper Archive). SCH2005.

<29> Leah M, 2006, Site visit to Eddisbury Hillfort, January 2006 (Written Communication). SCH7302.

<30> Garner, Dan and others, 2016, Hillforts of the Cheshire Ridge (Book). SCH8403.

Publication of the investigations undertaken by the Habitats and Hillforts Landscape Partnership Scheme 2009-2012