Hod Hill
OS Grid Reference ST856106
Hod Hill is a hill fort in the Blackmore Vale of Dorset 3 miles from Blandford Forum. The hill it sits on is a 490 foot chalk hill that is not attached to either the Dorset Downs or Cranborne Chase.
The fort is rectangular with a steep slope facing west to the River Stour and the other sides there are artifical rampart, ditch and outer banks.
In the iron age the hill was fortified by the Celtic Durotriges and radicarbon analysis suggests the date for the main rampart around 500BC.
In AD43 Vespasian led the Roman Second Legion and captured the hill. He has already captured Maiden Castle near Dorchester. In the 1950's Sir Ian Richmond excavated the site and published a final report in 1969. The Hill today is a calcareous grassland habitat, which means alkaline grassland and plants are typically short in height which include grasses, and herbs such as trefoil (3 leaf clovers). The hill is an important habitat fro insects especially butterflies. Another similar area is Salisbury plain.
You may also be interested in reading about Maiden Castle
Hod Hill is a hill fort in the Blackmore Vale of Dorset 3 miles from Blandford Forum. The hill it sits on is a 490 foot chalk hill that is not attached to either the Dorset Downs or Cranborne Chase.
The fort is rectangular with a steep slope facing west to the River Stour and the other sides there are artifical rampart, ditch and outer banks.
In the iron age the hill was fortified by the Celtic Durotriges and radicarbon analysis suggests the date for the main rampart around 500BC.
In AD43 Vespasian led the Roman Second Legion and captured the hill. He has already captured Maiden Castle near Dorchester. In the 1950's Sir Ian Richmond excavated the site and published a final report in 1969. The Hill today is a calcareous grassland habitat, which means alkaline grassland and plants are typically short in height which include grasses, and herbs such as trefoil (3 leaf clovers). The hill is an important habitat fro insects especially butterflies. Another similar area is Salisbury plain.
You may also be interested in reading about Maiden Castle
