Rawlsbury

Also known as:
Rawlsbury Rings
Nearest town:
Blandford Forum (11km ENE)
OS reference:
ST767058
OS sheet:
194
Latitude:
50° 51' 2.35 N
Longitude:
2° 19' 51.68 W
Added to TMA by

Images

Image of Rawlsbury (Hillfort) by GLADMAN

Looking east towards the earthworks protecting the approach to the entrance

Image credit: Robert Gladstone
GLADMAN
GLADMAN Jul 15, 2011
Image of Rawlsbury (Hillfort) by GLADMAN

Some images can be described as a ‘heap o’shite’.... sunburst upon Rawlsbury from entrance outwork to the east.

Image credit: Robert Gladstone
GLADMAN
GLADMAN Jul 14, 2011
Image of Rawlsbury (Hillfort) by GLADMAN

Wonderful, wonderful views to south-west.

Image credit: Robert Gladstone
GLADMAN
GLADMAN Jul 14, 2011
Image of Rawlsbury (Hillfort) by GLADMAN

Looking approx east from south-western corner.

Image credit: Robert Gladstone
GLADMAN
GLADMAN Jul 14, 2011
Image of Rawlsbury (Hillfort) by GLADMAN

Looking approx south upon the eastern arc....

Image credit: Robert Gladstone
GLADMAN
GLADMAN Jul 14, 2011
Image of Rawlsbury (Hillfort) by formicaant

The eastern hillslope showing how steep it is if you were stupid enough to attack up it.

Image credit: Mike Rowland 16/05/07
formicaant
formicaant Oct 1, 2007
Image of Rawlsbury (Hillfort) by formicaant

The sunken trackway leading to the east entrance.

Image credit: Mike Rowland 16/05/07
formicaant
formicaant Oct 1, 2007

Articles

Rawlsbury

texlahoma
texlahoma Jan 23, 2012

Rawlsbury is magnificent and affords spectacular views is all directions from it’s highest point.

This place isn’t just about the views though, the earthworks still retain their power and would have made any unwelcome visitors have to work extremely hard if they wanted to gain access, not least because of the climb up, which is approaching vertical in places.

Today it’s windy, very windy, especially here on the exposed height of Rawlsbury. My view is of the farmland below, the Stour, hundreds of sheep, field after field after field, squared off with fences and walls and small tracks and roads. Once inside the enclosure it feels much calmer, away from the howling wind, much more sheltered from the elements.

From here the other hills are neighbours, permanent fixtures on the horizon, everything else is far below, moving in a different time zone, a different world entirely.

Rawlsbury

formicaant
formicaant May 16, 2007

Another trip to this out of the way hillfort, it’s had a lot of scrub and brambles cleared from the western banks and ditches. The entrance to the fort is more complicated than I remembered, it may not of course be the original, but does look like it.
Once again there were no other people on the hill, not even the sheep are here now, just a lot rabbits and magpies for some reason.

Rawlsbury

formicaant
formicaant Mar 12, 2007

A beautiful sunny afternoon in winter (12/03/2007).This high Dorset hillfort is populated by myself , one other person and about thirty sheep.This is about the tenth time I have visited this remote hillfort , I am always amazed at the views , about thirty miles north,west and south. It’s strategic position in the landscape is as obvious now as it must have been in the iron age.It’s a medium sized (in Dorset terms) mutivallate typical Durotrigian fort roughly triangular in shape.It is split into two halves by a fence, the southern half looks like it may have been ploughed at some stage.

Miscellaneous

Rawlsbury
Hillfort
Rhiannon
Rhiannon Nov 5, 2005

Rawlsbury (900ft above sea level) is the second highest hill fort in Dorset being surpassed only by Pilsdon Pen (970ft). It is superbly sited and on a clear day there is a sweep of country all around which in sheer beauty can scarcely be surpassed in all England. Before you lie the Purbeck Hills running down to the sea, the great heath, the glorious fertile Vale of Blackmore running across to Somerset, and Glastonbury Tor. All this can be seen on one side whilst to the other the hill top town of Shaftesbury, the mid-Dorset downs and far away Hampshire and the Isle of Wight can be seen. Truly a place worth visiting for the view alone. This fort must have been well nigh impregnable but as it has never been excavated we do not know if it fell to Vespasian. Certainly from Hod and Hambledon Vespasian must have seen Rawlsbury very clearly and is unlikely to have left so powerful a fort uncaptured on his flank.

‘Exploring Ancient Dorset’ by George Osborn, 1976.

Sites within 20km of Rawlsbury

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