Barbury Castle
Template:Short description Template:For Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox ancient site Barbury Castle is a scheduled hillfort in Wiltshire, England, about Template:Convert south of Swindon.
Description
Barbury is one of several such forts found along the ancient Ridgeway route. The site, which lies within the Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, has been managed as a country park by Swindon Borough Council<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> since 1971.Template:Citation needed It is on Barbury Hill, a local vantage point, which, under ideal weather conditions, commands a view across to the Cotswolds and the River Severn. It has two deep defensive ditches and ramparts.<ref name="swindon">Template:Cite web</ref>
The site spans two civil parishes: Ogbourne St Andrew (to the south, in Wiltshire) and Wroughton (in the Borough of Swindon).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
History
Hillforts date from the late Iron Age. Barbury was in use during the Roman occupation of the area, and archaeological investigations have shown evidence of a number of buildings, indicating a village or military garrison at this time.<ref name="listing">Template:NHLE</ref>
In the 6th century the site became part of the Saxon kingdom of Wessex, following the defeat of the Romano-British at the Battle of Beranburgh, Beran Byrig or Beranbyrig in AD 556.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Centuries later the area was a favourite haunt of the 19th-century writer Richard Jefferies, who lived an hour's walk away at Coate.<ref name="swindon"/> The site was designated as a scheduled monument in 1882.<ref name="listing" />
In World War II the War Ministry appropriated the site for US Army Air Force anti-aircraft guns; the bases for these are apparently visible as hollows around the edge of the fort interior.<ref name="TMA">Template:Cite web</ref>
In 1996, a geophysical survey revealed traces of 40 hut circles inside the castle.<ref name="TMA"/> A reconstruction of an Iron Age roundhouse was built on the site in 2006 but was destroyed by vandals in October 2008.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In 2009, English Heritage (now Historic England) carried out a National Mapping Programme project which comprised an interpretation, transcription and analysis of all archaeological features visible on aerial photographs in the environs of Barbury Castle.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Location
Barbury Castle is at Template:Gbmapping, about Template:Convert south of Swindon and the M4, on the northern edge of the Marlborough Downs within the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The site is close to the Ridgeway long-distance footpath, which runs east–west along the edge of the downs. In the surrounding area there are round barrows, Celtic field systems and 18th-19th century flint workings.<ref name="swindon" />
Gallery
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Steep earthworks, looking northwards
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Aerial view
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Barbury Castle showing the scale of the present-day structure
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Looking westwards towards the River Severn
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The Iron Age house under construction, July 2006
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Plans of the Iron Age house
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2021 Digital terrain model of the area
See also
References
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