Images

Image of Chalbury (Hillfort) by juamei

Open Source Environment agency LIDAR

Image credit: © Environment Agency copyright and/or database right 2015.
Image of Chalbury (Hillfort) by GLADMAN

A pleasing prospect descending from Bincombe Hill.

Image credit: Robert Gladstone
Image of Chalbury (Hillfort) by GLADMAN

Viewed from the Coombe Valley Road to the north... it is possible to park here and take a public footpath to ascend Bincombe Down.

Image credit: Robert Gladstone
Image of Chalbury (Hillfort) by GLADMAN

The Bincombe Down barrows grace the skyline. As intended.

Image credit: Robert Gladstone
Image of Chalbury (Hillfort) by GLADMAN

Chalbury approaching from the approx south-west.

Image credit: Robert Gladstone
Image of Chalbury (Hillfort) by GLADMAN

Upon the northern barrow, showing excavation/treasure hunter damage. The iconic Bincombe Down barrows lie beyond the pylon, top left of image.

Image credit: Robert Gladstone
Image of Chalbury (Hillfort) by GLADMAN

Northern barrow... the rucksack gives a hint of scale. Quite large...

Image credit: Robert Gladstone
Image of Chalbury (Hillfort) by GLADMAN

The southern round barrow from the north... Isle of Portland adds the exquisite finishing touch.

Image credit: Robert Gladstone
Image of Chalbury (Hillfort) by GLADMAN

Eastern flank, looking approx south-east.

Image credit: Robert Gladstone
Image of Chalbury (Hillfort) by GLADMAN

Southern barrow.... note (quarried?) stone.

Image credit: Robert Gladstone
Image of Chalbury (Hillfort) by GLADMAN

The northern round barrow within the enclosure.....

Image credit: Robert Gladstone
Image of Chalbury (Hillfort) by GLADMAN

Looking north along the western flank towards Bincombe Down and its round barrows.

Image credit: Robert Gladstone
Image of Chalbury (Hillfort) by GLADMAN

South-western arc, looking towards Isle of Portland.

Image credit: Robert Gladstone
Image of Chalbury (Hillfort) by GLADMAN

Stone arrangement on line of original (?) entrance to south-east.

Image credit: Robert Gladstone
Image of Chalbury (Hillfort) by GLADMAN

South-eastern arc, if I’m not mistaken.

Image credit: Robert Gladstone
Image of Chalbury (Hillfort) by formicaant

Chalbury looking north from Jordan Hill, a roman temple site, with Bincombe Bumps in the background.

Image credit: Mike Rowland 02/04/11
Image of Chalbury (Hillfort) by formicaant

A close up of the barrows from East Hill looking west.

Image credit: Mike Rowland 15/03/10
Image of Chalbury (Hillfort) by formicaant

The south east aspect of the hillfort, also evident from this angle are two bowl barrows on the camp.

Image credit: Mike Rowland 30/09/09
Image of Chalbury (Hillfort) by formicaant

The north east side of Chalbury hill from nearby West hill.

Image credit: Mike Rowland 05/06/2007.
Image of Chalbury (Hillfort) by formicaant

Chalbury hill from Bincombe hill, the north west end .

Image credit: Mike Rowland 05/06/2007.

Articles

Chalbury

I approached this fort from the disused quarry on Coombe Valley Road to the west of the fort.
Possibly not the best way as it involves scrambling up sheer cliffs and over a fence.
It was obvious others had come this way though, and it did give me the feeling of being an invading Roman (which I quickly shook off, with a shudder!). If you carry on further up Coombe Valley Road there are footpaths for a gentler approach.

It’s a cute, roughly triangular little enclosure of about 4 hectares and was protected by a single ditch and a rampart of limestone slabs, obtained from quarry ditches inside the fort.
There is an entrance on the South East side and many hut circles were discovered inside the ramparts that suggest the site was intensively occupied around 450BC. I am just going to have a peek over the western ramparts and then get back to my bike. This fort looks cool from a distance,
and the view down the valley must have reminded the occupants that this was a land worth defending.
There are some barrows within the ramparts also, but I know nothing about them.

Miscellaneous

Chalbury
Hillfort

roman-britain.org/places/celtic/chalbury.htm
This pear-shaped fort is positioned atop a very steep hill dominating Weymouth Bay. Defenses consist of a single, 6m thick bank of rubble encased in drystone, and a flat-bottomed ditch with a simple entrance gap on the south-east. The hillfort defences were started sometime during the 5th century BC. Over 70 hut circles and numerous storage pits have been traced in the interior, and excavations at the site revealed a scatter of disarticulated human remains, which indicates exposure of the dead. The fort was very-likely the scene of – ultimately futile – resistance to the Roman advance through the area; this was presumably when occupation of the fort ended. There are many barrows and tumuli in the neighbourhood, including 2 Bronze Age round barrows at the centre of the fort itself, one of which contained a cremation burial.

Sites within 20km of Chalbury