More information : (SP 084363) A small univallate hill-fort was discovered
by L V Grinsell in 1960 on Burhill. The NE side is defended by a bank
with outer ditch, the other sides by the natural scarp of the
hill-side. The bank, which now extends less than halfway across
the neck of the spur, is 25 ft wide and 5 ft high, with a ditch
30ft wide and 3 ft deep. A dozen small sherds of undecorated
hand-made pottery, found along the inner edge of the bank, are in
Gloucester City Museum. (1-2)
SP 084363. A promontory fort enclosing some 12 acres. The bank on
the east side of the fort has been destroyed by ploughing at its
south end, but is up to 2.5m high in the north. There is no outer
ditch, but in the north east is an outer bank forming an overlapping
entrance. The other sides of the fort are defended solely by the
natural slope of the hillside. Built into this slope on the south
side of the fort is a pillow mound (SP 03 NE 17) Surveyed at 1:2500.
(3)
SP084363 The defences of the hillfort only survive on the north-eastern side as a fragment of univallate rampart. A small collection of abraded sherds were discovered dating to the early and middle Iron Age in the ploughed surface of the hillfort interior and are now in the Cheltenham and Gloucester Museums. A single decorated rim with finger tip and finger nail indentations was found. A saddle quern of prehistoric type has also been found in the interior. Pre Iron Age activity has been discovered as a flint scatter covering the spur (4-5)
SP 085 363. Burhill. Listed in gazetteer as a univallate hillfort. (6)
Hill-Fort (SP 085363), on Burhill, univallate, unexcavated. Parts of the bank have been levelled. [Additional information and plan included]. (7)
The Iron Age univallate promontory hillfort described above is centred at SP 0845 3627 and is partially visible on aerial photographs. A 125m long fragment of bank on the north-eastern corner is visible as an earthwork between SP 08446 3638 and SP 0856 3633. There is no clear evidence of ramparts extending around the margin of the spur as a complete circuit, only naturally steep scarp on the north, west and south sides. However, a possible section of mound 24m long is visible along the top of the scarp, 55m north of the south-western corner, centred at SP 0839 3618, and may have formed part of the ramparts. Alternatively, the mound is of similar proportions to a pillow mound which lies near the top of the southern slope, at SP 0847 3615 (see NMR SP 03 NE 17 / UID: 328058), and could be a second Medieval or Post-Medieval pillow mound on the spur. The hillfort is not particulary well sited for defence on the north-eastern side as the the hill-top rises slightly above the hillfort and it's interior may have been overlooked. (8)
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