More information : (SO 869120) Kimsbury or Castle Godwin (NAT) Camp (NR) (1) A fort of about 7 acres, probably of 1st.century BC, with three closely-set banks with two ditches on its south side and the remains of at least one bank and ditch on its north side. On the south east side there is an inturned entrance (2) and another gate on the northwest entered by "an escarpment track of early date"; a "quasi-central well (of uncertain date) survives". (3) A rusty sword and some spearheads were found here about 1749 and Roman coins had been found at various times (4). About 1921 Iron Age pottery, a bronze harp-shaped fibula (circa 200 BC) and some 3rd.century AD red and black pottery were found near the fort. (5) The fort has been known as Kimsbery, Kingsbarrow Castle and Castle Godwin (a). (2-7) A sub-triangular IA fort, bi-vallate, with a counterscarp bank on the south and west sides. There is a berm partway down the outer rampart. The steep natural slopes on the north side are augmented by a rampart, little of which now remains. The main entrance on the SE side of the fort has been mutilated by stone quarrying, but the inturning of the inner rampart is still well defined. A possible entrance in the NW corner is much damaged and is utilized by a modern track. The interior has been extensively quarried and the conical hollow at SO 86931213 noted by Baddeley (3) is perhaps associated with this; it is unlikely to have been a well. Re-surveyed at 1:2500. (8)
A Roman-British pruning hook form Kimsbury is now in Gloucester Museum, (Acc no.A440). [Illustration and further detail included]. (9)
Kimsbury Castle, a sub-triangular multivallate Iron Age hillfort, is visible as earthworks on historic aerial photographs and remote sensing data and was mapped as part of the Severn Vale NMP project. Located on Painswick Hill and centred at SO 86920 12108, the monument has three earthwork banks and ditches on its NNW-SSE and SW-NE sides, with its third WSW-ENE side being a steep scarp slope with no visible bank defences. A possible entrance is at SO 87052 12118 though extensive medieval and/or post-medieval quarrying has taken place within the internal enclosure, and so alterations may have occurred for the removal of extracted quarry material. A modern footpath cuts through the defensive banks on the SW facing side. The hillfort is visible on aerial photographs taken in 2014. (10-11) |