Chilterns Conservation Board

A PREVIOUSLY unrecorded prehistoric hillfort has been discovered by the Beacons of the Past team based at the Chilterns Conservation Board.

A recent LiDAR survey of the entire Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty has provided a mass of data which “citizen scientists” have been working on.

The confirmation of a new hillfort in the AONB coincides with the first anniversary of the online LiDAR portal (Light Distance and Ranging).

Launched on August 12 last year, the portal now has almost 3,000 registered users, who have created records of more than 10,000 archaeological features.

Beacons of the Past, a project funded by the National Lottery to discover more about the Chilterns Iron Age hillforts, recently flew a bespoke LiDAR survey of the Chilterns.

It was the first of its kind in this area and the largest high-resolution archaeological survey ever flown in the UK.

Encompassing 1,400 km2, the survey has revealed thousands of archaeological features across Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire.

Hillforts in the Chilterns seem to have a fairly regular distribution, with a few notable gaps.

One of the aspirations of the project was to locate any hillforts that might have been hiding in plain sight or under tree cover.

Archaeologist Dr Ed Peveler, landscape heritage officer for the project, and several citizen scientists each independently identified an earthwork in the southern Chilterns as a potential hillfort.

Following careful assessment of the LiDAR and an extensive walkover survey by the team, thanks to the full co-operation of the landowner, a significant new hillfort can be added to the Chilterns.

The surviving earthwork consists of a bank 9m wide and an external ditch 7m wide. Running over 500m in perimeter, it would have enclosed an area of about three hectares (7.5 acres).

Dr Wendy Morrison, project manager and archaeologist, said: “Although one can never be certain of the age of a prehistoric earthwork without excavating for dating evidence, visual inspection of the rampart and ditch, paired with its location, dominating views in the landscape, give me the confidence to say this is very likely to be an early Iron Age univallate hillfort.” (c.800-500 BC).”

There is no public access to the site and the exact location of the hillfort is currently being withheld to protect sensitive archaeology and the landowner’s privacy.

The team is now actively engaged with the landowner to protect and preserve what remains.

With full training offered, the online citizen science portal can be found at http://chilternsbeacons.org

Funded by a £695,600 grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund and a number of partners, such as the National Trust, the Chiltern Society and local authorities, Beacons of the Past is providing a focus for community and public involvement through techniques such as remote sensing and survey, practical excavation and reasearch as well as a programme of events and educational activities.

• Hillforts are a class of prehistoric monument, constructed between the Late Bronze Age and the Middle Iron Age (12th century BC and 4th centuries BC). They often are not on hills nor used as forts and may have had a variety of functions over long timespans, including defended settlements, production sites and stock enclosures.