Hunsbury
Hill (Danes Camp)
The site of the earliest known
settlement in Northampton, Hunsbury Hill was an Iron age
hill fort. With vast quantities of iron in the ground
this fort would have been ideal as a trading post.
Weapons and jewellery would have been its main survival.
It's now believed to have been built sometime 2-2500
years ago and some sources believe it to be as old as 400
years BC.
Circular in structure, it used banks and ditches as it's
main protection from invaders. The inner earthworks is
about 4mtrs high and has a circumference of over 500
mtrs. A deep ditch still exists today along with a few
vitrified timbers. The wall inside of the ditch is
thought to have been mostly rubble and clay construction
that was reinforced with strong timber posts and rails
supporting a timber stockade.
The remaining posts show that the fort was subjected to
an extremely intense fire at some stage, the reason
unknown. Maybe the fort became a huge funeral pyre for
the celtic chieftain on his death or was it simply from a
raid or attack? Some of the unearthed relics suggest that
at some time, it had a religious significance. The number
3 was a sacred number to Iron age dwellers and skulls
were found with three holes in them.
This camp is in a very vulnerable position and is
gradually being eroded away. Not by the weather or time
but by the local vandals who just don't realise the
importance of the site.
