Bigbury Camp

Not too far from home is Bigbury Camp, an iron age enclosure on a hilltop in the middle of some woods.  This weekend, as part of the Festival of British Archaeology, there was an open day there with the opportunity to hear about how the site is managed and some of the archaeology, then to have a guided walk around.  So along with quite a few others I went over to take a look.

The area, to the north of Canterbury, is known as the Blean and is a huge area of countryside much of which is owned by the Kent Wildlife Trust.  They are in the process of clearing some of the non-native species like larch and sweet chestnut to provide a more diverse landscape that offers more to wildlife.

This is the slope up to the  "Annexe" area of the camp - the sweet chestnut coppice here was cleared only three months ago and regrowth is already about four feet high.  The plan is to graze the area with sheep and goats to keep the growth down and provide a different habitat for wildlife.  A side effect is that some fantastic views are being opened up, and it is easier to see the ditches and ramparts.

These aren't as impressive as other hillforts like Maiden Castle or Uffington from the same period of history, but it was until recently the only one known in the area.  A recent LiDAR survey of the area has potentially revealed another in commercially managed woodland nearby that archaeologists hope to get agreement to examine in the future.  It is possible that this is the location mentioned in Julius Caesar's account of his expeditions to Britain as the scene of a battle.  At any rate there is some evidence that the fort was burned down around that time and round houses were built in the nearby valley on what was to become the location of Canterbury.  Last time we looked around here it was hard to see anything for the trees - now it is an interesting and atmospheric location well worth a visit.