More information : [TQ 614 224] Site of Camp [O.E.](1)
At Tottingworth is the site of a very early (probably pre-Roman)
encampment. It is a univallate earthwork with outer ditch, oval in
shape, 140' x 102'. Very little now remains as it was deliberately
destroyed some years ago, but not before detailed measurements had
been taken.(2-3)
The siting was suplied to the OS (on request in 1908) by
Charles Dawson in a letter accompanied by a very bad sketch (both
in ONB). All that can really be got from these is that a 'Camp'
of the dimensions given in 2 and 3 was at somewhere about the
published position, that the drive cut through it, that it was
'shown' (presumably undescribed) on OS 25", and that a large
tree stood on its SW side.
The ONB does not explain how the OS was able to publish the
site, let alone its outline, from the information given, and
no pre-1908 25" or 6" shows either 'Camp' or any shape
approximating to the post-1908 outline. Therefore while the
siting is probably about right, the outline is more than
suspect, particularly as it accords neither with the dimensions
nor the orientation given by Dawson.(4)
This site occupies a position half-way down the slope of a
fairly steep clay spur. It is cut through by a drive, and an
ancient beech tree stands on a mound beside it, so it is almost
certainly the spot intended by Dawson. The mound shows that the
whole of the area of the 'camp' has been lowered by about 1.0m.
The slopes shown on the OS 25" as part of the 'camp' are in fact
part natural, part spill, resulting from this. The area above
the site is now the playing field of Tottingworth Park School but
a depression at the NE fringe is said by the gardeners to be the
result of digging soil for the greenhouses when the house was
a private residence.
The earthwork could hardly have been a defensive one and it is
impossible to say what it represented.
Published 1:2500 revised.(5)
Excavation in 1992 has dated the earthwork to the Medieval period, probably 13th to 14th century. No evidence as to its function was discovered however. (6) |