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Vespasian's Camp
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Vespasian's Camp
Vespasian's Camp is an Iron Age hillfort just west of the town of Amesbury, Wiltshire, England. The hillfort is less than 3 kilometres (2 mi) from the Neolithic and Bronze Age site of Stonehenge, and was built on a hill next to the Stonehenge Avenue; it has the River Avon on its southern side and the A303 road on its northern edge. The site is a scheduled monument and lies within the boundaries of the Stonehenge World Heritage Site.
Other hillforts nearby include Danebury to the east, Sidbury Hill and Casterley Camp to the north, Yarnbury Castle to the west and Figsbury Ring and Old Sarum to the south. Ogbury Camp, 3 miles (5 km) to the south, may have been a satellite enclosure of Vespasian's Camp.
The earthworks were named "Vespasian's Camp" in the 16th century by William Camden, an Elizabethan antiquarian and historian, during a tour of the area. Although the Roman general Vespasian, who was later Roman emperor from 69 to 79 CE, campaigned through Wessex after the Roman invasion of Britain in 43 CE, there is no evidence to suggest he came to this hillfort or had any military base here.
Aligned from north to south, the hillfort is 730 m (800 yd) long and 374 m (409 yd) wide at its southern end, narrowing to 100 m (110 yd) wide at the north. It encloses an area of some 14 ha (35 acres). The bank is up to 40 m (44 yd) wide and up to 6 m (6.6 yd) high above the ditch bottom. The ditch is up to 10 m (11 yd) wide with a low counterscarp bank up to 18 m (20 yd) wide on the outside of the ditch, creating a maximum width of the hillfort's defences of 68 m (74 yd).
It occupies a strong defensive position. There are two original entrances, one on the north and the other probably to the south-east, just north of the point where Stonehenge Road cuts through the camp.
A road constructed over the hilltop in the Middle Ages separates the southern part of the site from the rest of the hillfort. During the 18th century, the hillfort was landscaped as part of the Duke of Queensbury's grounds around Amesbury Abbey. A grotto, vista and paths were constructed and substantial tree planting was carried out. The A303 road was cut through the northern section of the hill in the 1970s, just below the northernmost bank.
During road-widening in 1964, the main western rampart was partly uncovered. It had been assumed that most of the archaeology had been lost during the 18th-century landscaping of the area by Charles Bridgeman and others for the Duke of Queensberry. However, documentary research showed that the hillfort had escaped most of the landscaping, and excavations began in 2005, concentrating on an area just north-east of Vespasian's Camp known as Blick Mead.
The first finds were tools ranging as far back as the Mesolithic. What had been thought to be a water feature was an ancient spring which might have been part of a seasonal lake. There is a one-metre (40-inch) thick layer of domestic waste that suggests the hill had a considerable population after the banks were constructed. Occupation of the site spanned the period from 6250 to 4700 BCE. It has been suggested that the hill may have been part of the Stonehenge ritual landscape during the later part of this period.
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Vespasian's Camp
Vespasian's Camp is an Iron Age hillfort just west of the town of Amesbury, Wiltshire, England. The hillfort is less than 3 kilometres (2 mi) from the Neolithic and Bronze Age site of Stonehenge, and was built on a hill next to the Stonehenge Avenue; it has the River Avon on its southern side and the A303 road on its northern edge. The site is a scheduled monument and lies within the boundaries of the Stonehenge World Heritage Site.
Other hillforts nearby include Danebury to the east, Sidbury Hill and Casterley Camp to the north, Yarnbury Castle to the west and Figsbury Ring and Old Sarum to the south. Ogbury Camp, 3 miles (5 km) to the south, may have been a satellite enclosure of Vespasian's Camp.
The earthworks were named "Vespasian's Camp" in the 16th century by William Camden, an Elizabethan antiquarian and historian, during a tour of the area. Although the Roman general Vespasian, who was later Roman emperor from 69 to 79 CE, campaigned through Wessex after the Roman invasion of Britain in 43 CE, there is no evidence to suggest he came to this hillfort or had any military base here.
Aligned from north to south, the hillfort is 730 m (800 yd) long and 374 m (409 yd) wide at its southern end, narrowing to 100 m (110 yd) wide at the north. It encloses an area of some 14 ha (35 acres). The bank is up to 40 m (44 yd) wide and up to 6 m (6.6 yd) high above the ditch bottom. The ditch is up to 10 m (11 yd) wide with a low counterscarp bank up to 18 m (20 yd) wide on the outside of the ditch, creating a maximum width of the hillfort's defences of 68 m (74 yd).
It occupies a strong defensive position. There are two original entrances, one on the north and the other probably to the south-east, just north of the point where Stonehenge Road cuts through the camp.
A road constructed over the hilltop in the Middle Ages separates the southern part of the site from the rest of the hillfort. During the 18th century, the hillfort was landscaped as part of the Duke of Queensbury's grounds around Amesbury Abbey. A grotto, vista and paths were constructed and substantial tree planting was carried out. The A303 road was cut through the northern section of the hill in the 1970s, just below the northernmost bank.
During road-widening in 1964, the main western rampart was partly uncovered. It had been assumed that most of the archaeology had been lost during the 18th-century landscaping of the area by Charles Bridgeman and others for the Duke of Queensberry. However, documentary research showed that the hillfort had escaped most of the landscaping, and excavations began in 2005, concentrating on an area just north-east of Vespasian's Camp known as Blick Mead.
The first finds were tools ranging as far back as the Mesolithic. What had been thought to be a water feature was an ancient spring which might have been part of a seasonal lake. There is a one-metre (40-inch) thick layer of domestic waste that suggests the hill had a considerable population after the banks were constructed. Occupation of the site spanned the period from 6250 to 4700 BCE. It has been suggested that the hill may have been part of the Stonehenge ritual landscape during the later part of this period.
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