| Summary : A well-preserved Iron Age hillfort on St Roche's Hill, enclosing and partly overlying a Neolithic causewayed enclosure (SU 81 SE 52). The earthworks on the hill were surveyed by RCHME in 1995 as part of the Industry and Enclosure in the Neolithic Project. See the archive report for a full description of the earthworks and an account of the history of investigation of the hillfort and causewayed enclosure. Excavations were undertaken by Curwen in 1928 and 1930, and again in 1980 in advance of alterations to the radio station which now stands within the enclosure. RCHME survey confirmed the polygonal shape of the hillfort, comprising nine straight sections of rampart which essentially follow the contours. Inturned earthworks represent later additions to the original entrances. Fifteen possible house platforms were identified within the interior, while three sub-rectangular building platforms may be associated with the Roman phase. Outside the western entrance, RCHME air photograph analysis and transcription identified a funnel-like inturned post-hole arrangement apparently directed towards the gateway. The bulk of the artefact assemblage recovered from the excavations and surface collection is of Iron Age date, with some Roman material present, but some of the pottery, if not the hillfort, may be of Late Bronze Age origin, as may be the linear earthwork SU 81 SE 14. |
More information : [SU 87741107] The Trundle Supposed [T.I.]
British Camp [G.T.] (1)
The Trundle, a Neolithic causewayed camp and an Iron Age hill-fort.
A sherd of Roman pottery was found on the surface in the entrance
of the East Gate(3).
Excavated by Curwen 1928 and 1930. Full account, plans etc. given. See AO/61/345/1. (2,3)
The Trundle - Scheduled. (4)
The IA phase of the Trundle is generally in excellent condition but the Neolithic causewayed camp is in poor condition although considerable portions of it are surveyable.
A casual inspection of the mole turnings at the site produced not
only many coarse gritty IA potsherds but a sherd of smooth black IA pottery, a few small sherds of R.B. ware, a flint scraper and a small fragment of a Roman brick; a large portion of a Roman brick was also found on the surface.
Published survey (25" 1912) revised. (5)
The IA Hillfort and Ne causewayed camp are as described and
illustrated. The Ne ditches are visible as darker patches of grass, clearly broken by the interrupting causeways. The inner banks are now reduced to scarps.
Survey of 1962 1:2500 revised. (6)
SU 877 110. The Trundle. Listed in AHA Hogg's gazetteer as a univallate hillfort covering 5.0ha. (7)
VCH: The Trundle, St Roche's Hill. Description with plan. (8)
(SU 8774 1107) In May 1995, RCHME carried out an analytical earthwork survey of St Roche's Hill as part of the project to record Industry and Enclosure in the Neolithic Period (9). The causewayed enclosure mentioned by previous sources was assigned a new NMR reference (SU 81 SE 52) to enhance the record.
Small scale depictions of The Trundle are shown on a number of 16th and 17th century maps (9a); the earliest large scale portrayal is an etching in Stukeley's Itinerarium Curiosum of 1723. In 1804, Hay mentioned the 'small camp, in a circular form' (9b). In 1835, Horsfield was the first to suggest a prehistoric origin (9c). In 1839, Mason's description of the Goodwood Estate reproduced a semi-bird's eye view of the hillfort and included a relatively detailed description of the earthworks, which erroneously concluded that the eastern gateway was '...evidently a modern innovation' (9d). In 1850, Turner mentioned that fragments of pottery (mostly Iron Age presumably) could be found wherever the soil was exposed (9e). In 1905, VCH described the fort as 'of early character' (8). In 1916 Allcroft derived the name Trundle from tha Anglo-Saxon for 'hoop' (9f).
Curwen (2, 3) made a large-scale plan and encountered a number of IA pits and post-holes in his excavations of the causewayed enclosure; the upper layers of the Neolithic ditches contained IA pottery and the upper fill of the inner ditch was interpreted as deliberate infilling. In 1930, Curwen excavated the NE gateway revealing a succession of gate structures. Cunliffe later revised Curwen's interpretation (9g). Hawkes' 1930 pottery report recorded La Tene I and II ceramic styles, the latter dominated by saucepan pots. Cunliffe later identified three sherds of Caburn I style, which he dated to the 6th-5th centuries (9h), though Champion subsequently pushed the dating back to the 8th-7th centuries (9i). The remainder of the artefactual assemblage was very rich, including a glass ring, shale bracelets, metalwork and slag (2, 3).
The Trundle is polygonal, comprising nine straight sections of rampart which essentially follow the contour, enclosing 5.66ha. Inturned earthworks are later additions to the original entrances, which lie on the WSW and ESE. The rampart bank has an average basal width of 9.0m and internal height of 1.8m, and appears to have been heightened at some stage. Immediately inside the rampart is a regular quarry hollow. The ditch averages 10.5m wide and ranges from 0.7m to 1.8m deep, creating an external face up to 5.5m high overall. The counterscarp bank is 0.4m high on average. As a whole the monument is well preserved. Fifteen possible circular house platforms were identified by RCHME scattered around the interior of the hillfort. A concentration of prehistoric pottery & two small fragments of quernstone were collected on the surface, centred around SU 8770 1115, where later ploughing may have taken place. Three sub-rectangular possible building platforms may be associated with the Roman activity; a further five possible Roman sherds were collected by RCHME, mostly in the vicinity of the site of St Roche's Chapel (SU 81 SE 15). Outside the W gate, aerial photographic transcription by RCHME identified a funnel-like in-turned ?fenceline, apparently directed towards the gateway and possibly therefore of IA date.
For further details, including full description and interpretation, plan surveyed at 1:1000 scale with AP transcription and interpretative figures, see RCHME Level 3 client report, held in NMR archive. (9)
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