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Figsbury Ring

Ancient Village / Settlement / Misc. Earthwork

Fieldnotes

Figsbury Ring (Summer 2000)

I visited this as a 'detour' on my way back from my friend's house in Newbury. You know, one of those diversions you take to fix it to make sure you can go past an ancient site on your way somewhere - i.e. a big detour.

I had been visiting an old friend, Dr Jaime Kaminski, a mad ex-archaeologist turned IT person, who finds gunshot from the Battle of Newbury (1643) each time he digs his garden. Jaime got 8 firsts out of nine exams for his Archaeology degree. Bugger. He was some sort of mad genius; just about the last person you'd expect to be a brain box. We had gone up Beacon Hill, a hill fort just outside Newbury, and then I continued on to Figsbury Ring.

When I visited Figsbury Ring it was easy to find, well signposted from the main road, but like other people have said on this website it is a VERY rough track up to the site, and you do get the feeling that something is wrong. Stick with it; after quite an uphill drive/walk you will come to a very large car park. I found Figsbury Ring to be one of the most amazing and intriguing places I have visited. Like others have said, there is something rum going on here. It's not much of a 'defensive stronghold' is it?! Especially after having just seen Beacon Hill and Ladle Hill, and going on to see the huge defences at Old Sarum. And why on earth would any community spend their precious time digging an extra ditch inside their own settlement? I smell a fish here. I am not an archaeologist or a researcher at English Heritage but I have been to a lot of hill forts and henge's and Figsbury Ring does not strike me to be obviously a hill fort.
pure joy Posted by pure joy
25th November 2002ce

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