Shenberrow Hill Camp

Nearest town:
Evesham (12km NW)
OS reference:
SP0804033462
OS sheet:
150
Latitude:
51° 59' 56.72 N
Longitude:
1° 52' 58.35 W
Added to TMA by

Images

Image of Shenberrow Hill Camp (Promontory Fort) by thesweetcheat

Looking over the hawthorn dotted northern flank, towards the Malverns and Bredon Hill.

Image credit: A. Brookes (27.5.2019)
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Oct 5, 2019
Image of Shenberrow Hill Camp (Promontory Fort) by thesweetcheat

Looking over the western defences, mostly reliant on the natural slope. The hills in the centre are Dixton Hill and Oxenton Hill, both with earthworks of their own, the Malverns over to the far right.

Image credit: A. Brookes (27.5.2019)
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Oct 5, 2019
Image of Shenberrow Hill Camp (Promontory Fort) by thesweetcheat

Beneath the trees at the northeastern corner of the fort.

Image credit: A. Brookes (27.5.2019)
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Oct 5, 2019
Image of Shenberrow Hill Camp (Promontory Fort) by thesweetcheat

Looking outwards from the inner bank of the northern rampart.

Image credit: A. Brookes (27.5.2019)
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Oct 5, 2019
Image of Shenberrow Hill Camp (Promontory Fort) by thesweetcheat

The southeastern corner of the rampart, showing how the farmhouse has been built over the earthwork.

Image credit: A. Brookes (23.3.2013)
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Mar 25, 2013
Image of Shenberrow Hill Camp (Promontory Fort) by thesweetcheat

The double rampart on the northern side of the fort, from outside.

Image credit: A. Brookes (23.3.2013)
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Mar 25, 2013

Articles

Shenberrow Hill Camp

thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Mar 24, 2013

Nearing the top of the hill, the northeast wind takes on an additional biting edge, driving snow in almost horizontally, over the edge of the escarpment. Shenberrow Hill Camp is another promontory fort, like its neighbour at Burhill Farm. Unlike that site though, the ramparts of Shenberrow are rather more powerful, with two banks protecting the approach from gentler slope to the north. On the west and south sides the steep scarp provides natural defences. I walk some way along a bridleway that follows the curve of the northern rampart, but the wind is doing its best to knock me over and I’m quite relieved to retrace my steps and enter the fort. The interior is crossed by the Cotswold Way itself, and an area below the west and south sides are access land, making it possible to get a good look at the earthworks without needing any permission. The southeastern section of rampart has unfortunately been destroyed by the construction of the farmhouse. As the strong wind and drifted snow attests, this is an exposed place and life here in the Iron Age must have been very tough, even snug under thatch behind the ramparts.

The Way exits the fort through what appears to be an original entrance at the south, from which the ground drops steeply to a wooded valley. Rather than following the path, I head onto the access land to the west of the fort, for a look at the sloping flanks below. The deep snow has the advantage of making a fairly sharp descent over thorny shrubs back to the path easier than it would be at other times.

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