Croft Ambrey, on Yatton Hill, is in the civil parish of Aymestrey, 6 miles (10 km) north from Leominster, 3.5 miles (6 km) south-east from the South Shropshire border, and approximately 7 miles (11 km) east from the Wales border. The fort is on high ground beyond and adjoining the north-east boundary of National TrustCroft Castle parkland. The nearest settlements are the villages of Yarpole, Aymestrey and Yatton, and the hamlet of Mortimer's Cross.[1] The Mortimer Trail waymarked long-distance footpath passes the site.
Descriptionedit
Rampart at Croft Ambrey
The monument includes a small multivallatehillfort with an annexe containing a Romano-Celtic temple and a medieval warren of up to five pillow mounds on the summit of a prominent steeply sloping spur overlooking Yatton Marsh and the valley of a tributary to Allcock's Brook. The hillfort survives as a roughly triangular enclosure defined to the north by two scarps with a buried ditch: to the west by three rampart banks and a larger internal ditch and to the south by three rampart banks with two medial ditches and a wide internal ditch which may have been used to store water. There were two complex entrances which through time had 20 successive gateposts and were further enhanced with guardrooms, corridors and bridges of which the south western was the principal entrance and the north eastern was complex and inturned. The enclosure originally covered approximately 2.2ha, but this increased through time to 3.6ha and eventually a southern rectangular annexe was added. This is defined by two slighter concentric banks.[2]
Excavationsedit
The hillfort was excavated between 1960 and 1966 and was found to have been in use from the 6th century BC up to AD 48. It contained closely set rectangular buildings which had been rebuilt up to six times. The population of the hillfort was estimated at 500-900 individuals. Finds included metalwork such as iron tools, weapons, sickles, blades, nails and a spade, shale and glass objects, bone and antler artefacts, spindle whorls, loom and thatch weights, saddle querns and rotary querns, hammer stones and Iron Age pottery.
There are some notable parallels with the hillfort at Wapley Hill, which also was used for rabbit farming.
Referencesedit
^"Croft Ambrey", UK Grid Reference Finder. Retrieved 3 March 2020
croft, ambrey, iron, hill, fort, herefordshire, england, aymestreynear, leominster, northarea32, acres, contents, location, description, excavations, references, further, reading, external, linkslocation, edit, yatton, hill, civil, parish, aymestrey, miles, no. Croft Ambrey is an Iron Age hill fort in Herefordshire England Croft AmbreyAymestreyNear Leominster in UKCroft Ambrey at the northArea32 acres Contents 1 Location 2 Description 3 Excavations 4 References 5 Further reading 6 External linksLocation editCroft Ambrey on Yatton Hill is in the civil parish of Aymestrey 6 miles 10 km north from Leominster 3 5 miles 6 km south east from the South Shropshire border and approximately 7 miles 11 km east from the Wales border The fort is on high ground beyond and adjoining the north east boundary of National Trust Croft Castle parkland The nearest settlements are the villages of Yarpole Aymestrey and Yatton and the hamlet of Mortimer s Cross 1 The Mortimer Trail waymarked long distance footpath passes the site Description edit nbsp Rampart at Croft Ambrey The monument includes a small multivallate hillfort with an annexe containing a Romano Celtic temple and a medieval warren of up to five pillow mounds on the summit of a prominent steeply sloping spur overlooking Yatton Marsh and the valley of a tributary to Allcock s Brook The hillfort survives as a roughly triangular enclosure defined to the north by two scarps with a buried ditch to the west by three rampart banks and a larger internal ditch and to the south by three rampart banks with two medial ditches and a wide internal ditch which may have been used to store water There were two complex entrances which through time had 20 successive gateposts and were further enhanced with guardrooms corridors and bridges of which the south western was the principal entrance and the north eastern was complex and inturned The enclosure originally covered approximately 2 2ha but this increased through time to 3 6ha and eventually a southern rectangular annexe was added This is defined by two slighter concentric banks 2 Excavations editThe hillfort was excavated between 1960 and 1966 and was found to have been in use from the 6th century BC up to AD 48 It contained closely set rectangular buildings which had been rebuilt up to six times The population of the hillfort was estimated at 500 900 individuals Finds included metalwork such as iron tools weapons sickles blades nails and a spade shale and glass objects bone and antler artefacts spindle whorls loom and thatch weights saddle querns and rotary querns hammer stones and Iron Age pottery There are some notable parallels with the hillfort at Wapley Hill which also was used for rabbit farming References edit Croft Ambrey UK Grid Reference Finder Retrieved 3 March 2020 Historic England Croft Ambrey camp 1001750 National Heritage List for England Retrieved 3 March 2020 Further reading editChildren G Nash G 1994 Prehistoric Sites of Herefordshire Logaston Press ISBN 1 873827 09 1External links edit nbsp Media related to Croft Ambrey at Wikimedia Commons Croft Ambrey on the Roman Britain website 52 17 42 N 2 48 54 W 52 295 N 2 815 W 52 295 2 815 nbsp This Herefordshire location article is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte nbsp This article about a Herefordshire building or structure is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Croft Ambrey amp oldid 1152055697, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
