thesweetcheat
The northwestern barrow. I’ve been so you don’t have to.
Image credit: A. Brookes (27.5.2019)
The single bank of the southern rampart.
Image credit: A. Brookes (27.5.2019)
Looking north across the fort interior.
Image credit: A. Brookes (27.5.2019)
Looking over the hawthorn dotted northern flank, towards the Malverns and Bredon Hill.
Image credit: A. Brookes (27.5.2019)
Looking over the western defences, mostly reliant on the natural slope. The hills in the centre are Dixton Hill and Oxenton Hill, both with earthworks of their own, the Malverns over to the far right.
Image credit: A. Brookes (27.5.2019)
Overgrown bank and ditch at the northeastern corner.
Image credit: A. Brookes (27.5.2019)
Beneath the trees at the northeastern corner of the fort.
Image credit: A. Brookes (27.5.2019)
Looking outwards from the inner bank of the northern rampart.
Image credit: A. Brookes (27.5.2019)
The double banks of the northern rampart.
Image credit: A. Brookes (27.5.2019)
Slight evidence of a bank, or at least an artificial enhancement to the natural scarp, near the southern corner of the site.
Image credit: A. Brookes (27.5.2019)
Looking southeast along the top of the southwestern flank. The defences here rely on the natural steepness of the hill.
Image credit: A. Brookes (27.5.2019)
Looking over the northern “rampart” towards Bredon Hill.
Image credit: A. Brookes (27.5.2019)
Titterstone Clee under big May clouds, seen from the southwest across the border in Herefordshire.
Image credit: A. Brookes (25.5.2019)
Looking down on the southwestern gate. The views stretch from the west Shropshire Hills to take in the Arans and Berwyns.
Image credit: A. Brookes (21.5.2019)
Looking south from the outcrop above the Needle’s Eye.
Image credit: A. Brookes (21.5.2019)
The “inner” fort from the outcrop above the southwestern gate.
Image credit: A. Brookes (21.5.2019)
Above the Raven’s Bowl on the southeastern flank. The big hill on the skyline is Brown Clee, the highest in Shropshire with three forts of its own.
Image credit: A. Brookes (21.5.2019)
The northwestern flank, looking southwest. The line of the rampart runs near the top of the slope, but really the steepness of the hillside provides most of the defensive capability. Caer Caradoc is prominent on the centre skyline, with the Long Mynd to the right and the Stiperstones to the right again.
Image credit: A. Brookes (21.5.2019)
Looking north from the upper rampart near Heaven Gate.
Image credit: A. Brookes (21.5.2019)
Looking north over Wellington from Hell Gate.
Image credit: A. Brookes (21.5.2019)
Panoramic diagram of all the hills you can see from the Wrekin.
Haresfield Beacon round barrow, inside the fort.
Image credit: A. Brookes (18.5.2019)
The Ring Hill bank. Looking straight at me from the middle of the photo is a roe deer buck.
Image credit: A. Brookes (18.5.2019)
The inner side of the Ring Hill defences. The prominent hill on the skyline is May Hill, inevitably.
Image credit: A. Brookes (18.5.2019)
The excellent views to the Severn.
Image credit: A. Brookes (18.5.2019)
The top of the northeastern mound, the limestone composition showing through.
Image credit: A. Brookes (18.5.2019)
From the northeast. The Severn and Forest of Dean are the backdrop, top right.
Image credit: A. Brookes (18.5.2019)
The National Trust are nailing their colours to the “round barrows” mast on their board up at the car park.
Image credit: A. Brookes (18.5.2019)
There’s disagreement as to whether the mounds below the Shortwood toposcope are round barrows, quarry dumps or simply natural features.
The National Trust favour the round barrows option, describing them as “good candidates”:
Two conjoined probable round barrows. Visited with wardening team. The site lie 200m south west of Shortwood 200m south-west and downslope of Shortwood toposcope on the north side of a pathway. From here there is a clear view to the north towards Haresfield Beacon.
SW Mound:
This is a prominent mound estimated as 15m diameter and 2.5m high. A quarry ditch could be traced on all but the norh-east side where it joins the north-east mound. The ditch is 3-5m wide and about 0.5m deep except on the south-east side where it has been backfilled presumably for the pathway but it is vaguely discernable there.
Recent disturbance on the south-west side of the mound top revealed the make-up the mound to be limestone rubble mixed with dark brown humic loam. The hole was c. 1.5m long and 0.5m wide and 0.4m deep.
Light scrub was growing on the SW and NE sides. Ranger David Armstrong agreed to clear this.
These are good candidates for barrows and may be those identified by Ordnance Survey and referred to in 71307.
NE mound:
This is a prominent mound estimated as 15m diameter and 2.5m high. A quarry ditch could be traced on all but the south-west side where it joins the south-west mound. The ditch is 3-5m wide and about 0.5m deep except on the south-east side where it has been backfilled presumably for the pathway.
Light scrub was growing across most of the mound. Ranger David Armstrong agreed to clear this.
The Pastscape record is less promising:
1998 – The site was visited by A Douthwaite of English Heritage as a result of MPP on 19/08/1998. The site was first noted by R. Jowett-Burton in 1931, and was visited by Grinsell in 1960, who assessed the mound to be 11m in diameter and 1m in height. However, Grinsell was uncertain whether the feature represented a barrow, as he had noted the presence of other, natural mounds in the area. During a survey of the Haresfield Beacon Estate in 1995, the mound was not located as the area contains numerous mounds of natural origin and the underlying ground is composed of geologically unstable deposits of landslip and foundered strata. Parry, who undertook the survey, concluded that ‘it would seem highly improbable that round barrows would be present in such a location’. The site was visited under the MPP in August 1998, and although a number of mounds were noted in the location specified, there is no evidence to indicate tht they represent round barrows, and they may be quarry dumps or natural features (pers comm A Douthwaite 19/08/1998).
Either way, they’re big mounds in a lovely location, with views across the Severn towards the Forest of Dean. They are also intervisible with the prominent round barrow on Haresfield Beacon.