Access sorry to say I can’t really remember, but here are my vague impressions.... It’s got a big car park and I reckon you can have at least a bit of a look around without having to go up steps or over stiles.
There might possibly be a gate or 2 that could be a bit awkward for wheelchairs. The ground is certainly fairly uneven in places and being a hillfort, there are some reasonably steep bits. The one thing I DO remember is that the (pretty helpful) info boards about the fort & settlement are on a raised platform that I’m pretty sure can only be reached by steps.
Monday 15 September 2003
I’d better start by saying that I know even less about hillforts, settlements and enclosures the like than I do about other stuff. And I don’t regard myself as very knowledgeable about the other stuff!
I must admit that they don’t interest me as much. I’m sure I’m missing out, but try as I might I can’t find the same ‘glamour’ and ‘mystique’ as at a stone circle or stone row, a long barrow or dolmen.
I do like ‘em though!!!
Probably the least surprising and certainly the first thing that struck me was that the views are stunning – looking out as Crickley Hill does, over miles and miles of plain, the Severn Valley and on to the Malverns. (Yes, it has those boards to show you notable places in the landscape, otherwise I’d not have known what I was looking at....)
The earthworks of the enclosure are fairly impressive, but I have to say that the mounds and dips where the settlements were left me fascinated but bemused. Couldn’t really work out what was going on there, even with the help of the informative info boards. Perhaps it was just me.
I ended up simply enjoying wandering around for half an hour, looking and wondering. It’s good for you sometimes I think – much better than giving yourself a headache trying to get your head round stuff that just won’t sink in.
Certainly a highly significant and interesting place and I’m heartily glad to have been there! Wouldn’t mind going back for another look sometime.
Re. the mounds and dips - much limestone quarrying was undertaken on site (I'm sorry, I can't remember whether this was late- or post-Medieval off the top of my head), which does add to the confusion when attempting to detect early features. This is mainly located to the left, slightly downhill, as you go through the main entrance (on the other side of the NT fence). Right down at the bottom, you might just be able to detect slighter hollows (but this is pretty tricky), which may belong to the dark age settlement.
The info. board is now at ground level, so should now be viewable from a wheel-chair. There's also a visitors centre open in summer with info. including a model of the iron age settlement, and a reconstruction of an iron age oven
As you enter the site, you should see concrete markers where the larger iron age buildings used to be, to give you an idea od their massive size