Hardwell Castle

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Hardwell Castle
Hardwell Camp
Type	Hillfort
Location	Compton Beauchamp, Oxfordshire
Coordinates	51°34′42″N 1°35′14″W / 51.57844°N 1.58723°W / 51.57844; -1.58723Coordinates: 51°34′42″N 1°35′14″W / 51.57844°N 1.58723°W / 51.57844; -1.58723
Scheduled monument
Official name	Hardwell Camp promontory fort
Designated	18 August 1958
Reference no.	1017820[1]
Location of Hardwell Castle in Oxfordshire

Hardwell Castle or Hardwell Camp is an Iron Age valley fort in the civil parish of Compton Beauchamp in Oxfordshire (previously Berkshire).^[2]

Site nature[]

Like nearby Cherbury Camp, it is not clearly in a strategic or easily defended position. It lies halfway down the scarp slope of the White Horse Hills and is tucked away in a curve, invisible from most angles. This particular positioning suggests its builders had a specialist purpose in mind, although exactly what that may have been remains a mystery. It is 'multi-vallate', like Cherbury Camp. It is unexcavated and therefore very little is known about it. The site is described as a promontory fort by Historic England, and has been a Scheduled Monument since 1958.^[1]

Location[]

The site is at grid reference

SU287867 in the Vale of White Horse, very close to the small settlements of both Compton Beauchamp and Knighton, 2 miles from Uffington and 1 mile from the hilltop Uffington Castle.

References[]