Hill fort

The term hill-fort is commonly used to describe the fortified enclosures found across Britain which are located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. Many of these hill-forts, after careful archeological excavation, have been discovered to have been used not for military purposes, but to pen in cattle, horses, or other domesticated animals.

Those used for habitation or as military encampments show activity before the Roman Conquest, then again following the end of Roman Britain, for a period of several decades into the Anglo-Saxon period. Some hill-forts were used by the Anglo-Saxons during the Viking invasions.

Examples

Danebury, Hampshire
Dinas Emrys, Gwynedd
Maiden Castle, Dorset
Old Oswestry, Shropshire
Old Sarum, Wiltshire
South Cadbury, Somerset
Trapain Law, East Lothian
The Wrekin, Shropshire