Dowdeswell

Nearest town:
Cheltenham (6km WNW)
OS reference:
SO998191
OS sheet:
163
Latitude:
51° 52' 11.92 N
Longitude:
2° 0' 10.46 W
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Images

Image of Dowdeswell (Hillfort) by thesweetcheat

Picture taken from a gap along the western rampart, looking south (the southern rampart is visible along the middle ground to the left of the photo).

Image credit: A.Brookes (20.7.2008)
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Jan 4, 2009
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Articles

Dowdeswell

C
CARL Aug 27, 2013
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Visited 24.8.13

Marked on my map as ‘settlement’ which I would say is a more accurate description, given its location in a fairly flat area which would offer little protection to attack.

You can drive all the way to the site but the road becomes rougher the closer you get. In hindsight it would have been better to park near the phone box (a little to the east) and walked up the road.

‘An electric fence’ noted Karen.
‘A wooden gate’ I replied.
60 seconds later I was checking the southern bank out whilst Karen was turning the car around.

The surviving banks that I saw (southern and western) ranged from being completely ploughed out to about 2m in height.
I didn’t have time to look at the condition of the other two sides of this rectangular enclosure.

The banks are exposed in places and you could easily see how they were constructed of the local Cotswold stone. Not much to add really.

Worth a look when in the area. Watch out for the electric fence!

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Dowdeswell

thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Jan 4, 2009
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Visited in July (20.7.2008) as part of a walk to Lineover Long Barrow. Shown on the OS as “Settlement”, the site is accessed from a footpath leading north off the road to Castle Barn Farm. A rectangular earthwork consisting of a single bank, the ground slopes away sharply to the north towards the Chelt valley. A nice quiet spot, just me and the birds singing (and a distant hum from the A40 to the north).

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Miscellaneous

Dowdeswell
Hillfort
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Jan 4, 2009
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Visiting the site it seems too far down the slope of the hill to be a traditional “hillfort” – according to the Cotswold District Council local plan, it is listed as “Hillfort 320m NE of Castle Barn Farm” on the list of Scheduled Ancient Monuments for the district.

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Sites within 20km of Dowdeswell

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