Shenberrow Camp

Shenberrow Camp is a small Iron Age hill fort high on the Cotswold escarpment above Stanton, nearly 300m up, beside the farm called Shenberrow Buildings. Two banks with ditches enclose a D-shaped area of about 1.9 hectares, and the Cotswold Way runs straight through it. It was scheduled as an ancient monument in 1927.

History

The fort was built in the Iron Age on the upper south-west slopes of a ridge, above a steep scarp overlooking a side valley of the River Isbourne. Historic England records it under the name Shenbarrow Hill camp.

The ramparts

An inner and an outer rampart, each with its ditch outside, enclosed the settlement; in places the steep natural slope did the work instead. The inner bank is up to 9.1m wide and 1.5m high. The outer one survives best to the north, as a bank up to 7.6m wide and 0.6m high with a ditch 0.9m deep; elsewhere it has been levelled and shows only as crop and soil marks on aerial photographs.

The dig of 1935

Partial excavation in 1935 found that the rampart faces had been built up with dry stone walling. Among the finds were Iron Age and Romano-British pottery, fragments of iron and part of a rotary quern for grinding grain, which suggests people were still living here in the Roman period. Later buildings stand within the fort.

What to see

The earthworks are modest, so look for them with care.

• The inner bank, the clearest part, a broad grassy rise round the enclosure
• To the north, the outer bank and its ditch, still an earthwork
• The way the scarp drops away on the south-west, where the slope itself was the defence
• The view from the edge over Stanton and the vale below

Visiting

Shenberrow Camp is on public rights of way, free and open at any time. The farm buildings within it are private, so keep to the Cotswold Way through the fort and close gates behind you. The National Trail asks for dogs on a lead unless signs say otherwise, and warns that sheep, cows and horses may graze the farmland. There are no facilities; the nearest pub is the Mount Inn in Stanton (closed on Mondays and Sunday evenings), and Broadway has cafés and toilets. Come on a clear day for the view.

Getting there

On foot only. From Stanton, the Stanton, Snowshill and the edge walk climbs the Cotswold Way through Shenberrow on its way to Snowshill; park in the parish car park by the cricket ground and not in the village centre. From Broadway, the Cotswold Way: Broadway to Wood Stanway walk makes the long climb to Shenberrow before the steep drop into Stanton. Both are part of the Cotswold Way National Trail. Pulhams bus 606 stops at the Stanton turns on the main road, about half a mile from the village, Monday to Saturday, with no Sunday service.

Nearby

Below in Stanton are the church of St Michael and All Angels and the medieval village cross. Over the top to the east is Snowshill, with St Barnabas Church and Snowshill Manor, and north along the edge Broadway Tower stands on the hill above Broadway. South along the escarpment, Beckbury Camp above Hailes is another Iron Age fort on the Edge.