Eddisbury Hillfort
Eddisbury Hillfort (also called Castle Ditch Eddisbury) is the largest and most complex of the seven hillforts in Cheshire , England . It is located on Eddisbury Hill in the hamlet of Delamere, west of Sandiway .
Eddisbury Hillfort was founded in the Iron Age between 200 and 100 BC. Built between 0 and 50 AD and expanded. Before 250 BC A palisade was already built on the hill . In the 1st century AD, the Romans destroyed the facility. Eddisbury Hillfort follows the contours of the hill and measures approximately 200 × 380 m. It is surrounded by two walls with a moat between them. The trench is about 10.0 m wide and 0.5 m deep. There is evidence of Bronze Age activity on the hill.
Archaeologically, Eddisbury went through two phases. In the first, the place was surrounded by a single wall and moat. This form is called "univallate" (single walled). The simple rebuilding concentrated on the eastern part. During the second phase, the fort occupies the entire hill and the fortification was reinforced with additional ramparts and moats. The hill fort increased from 2.2 to 2.8 hectares and the walled area comprised over six hectares, about 2.5 more than before. The expansion phase was dated to 0–50 AD. The hill was reoccupied from the 6th to 8th centuries AD, and an Anglo-Saxon castle was built on Eddisbury Hill around 914 AD. In the medieval and post-medieval times, a quarry and agriculture damaged the site.
context
There are more than 1,300 hillforts in England. They are concentrated in the south of the country, with only seven in Cheshire. Eddisbury, like all mountain fortresses in Cheshire, sits on part of the central ridge that runs north to south through the county.
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Coordinates: 53 ° 13 ′ 11.1 " N , 2 ° 40 ′ 15.3" W.