View N of Old Oswestry Iron Age hillfort, Shropshire, England, UK showing the sunken entrance passage at the SW cutting through the five ramparts.
View N of Old Oswestry Iron Age hillfort, Shropshire, England, UK showing the sunken entrance passage at the SW cutting through the ramparts. Five ramparts enclose a central area of some hectares which contained many round houses. In use from the C8thBC to around the time of the Roman invasion in 43AD. Four distinct construction phases culminated in the two massive external ramparts covering a total of around 25 hectares. The unusual rectangular cells between the two main sets of ramparts may be annexes, quarry pits, storage pits, sheltered working areas, cisterns or part of the entrance defences. The Anglo-Saxon linear boundary earthwork Wat's Dyke ran up to the ramparts at the N & SW. The fort was used for military training - digging trenches & using explosives - during World War One. Since 2012 local residents, archaeologists & celebrities have been fighting proposals for a housing development close to the fort.
Size: 3780px × 2637px
Location: Old Oswestry Hillfort, Oswestry, Shropshire, England, UK
Photo credit: © Mick Sharp / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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