{{Short description|Iron Age promontory fort in Somerset, England}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox Historic Site | name =Stokeleigh Camp | native_name = | native_language = | image =Stokeleigh Camp in Leigh Woods.jpg | caption = | locmapin =Somerset | coordinates = {{coord|51|27|25|N|2|38|15|W|display=inline,title}} | location =Leigh Woods, North Somerset, England | area ={{convert|7.5|acre|ha}} | built =Iron Age | architect = | architecture = | governing_body = | designation1 =Scheduled Ancient Monument | designation1_offname = | designation1_date = | designation1_number =198375<ref name="pastscape">{{PastScape|mnumber=198375 | mname=Stokeleigh Camp |accessdate=30 January 2011}}</ref> | designation2 = | designation2_offname = | designation2_date = | designation2_number = }} '''Stokeleigh Camp''' is an Iron Age promontory fort in Leigh Woods North Somerset near Bristol, England. The hill fort is one of three Iron Age fortifications overlooking the Avon Gorge, the others being Burgh Walls Camp south of the Nightingale Valley, of which almost no trace remains, and the other being Clifton Down Camp on the opposite side of the gorge, on Clifton Down near the Observatory.<ref name="bain"/> A prehistoric road is believed to have connected Stokeleigh Camp with Cadbury Camp near Tickenham in North Somerset.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/som/vol1/pp167-206 |title=Early Man | work= A History of the County of Somerset: Volume 1 |year=1906 |last=Page | first=William | publisher=British History Online | access-date=30 January 2011}}</ref>
==Description== Stokeleigh Camp is situated on a promontory,<ref name="mp-stokeleigh">{{cite web|title=Stokeleigh Camp Hillfort |url=http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=4970 |work=Hillfort in England in Somerset |publisher=Megalithic Portal|access-date=26 December 2010}}</ref> and occupies around {{convert|7.5|acre|ha}}.<ref name="pastscape"/><ref name="bain">{{cite web | url=http://www.wraxallandfailand.org.uk/Articles%20by%20Residents/Stokeleigh%20Iron%20Age%20Camp%20Leigh%20Woods%20v1.htm | title=Stokeleigh Camp | last=Bain | first=Nigel B. | year=2009 | publisher=villages of Wraxall and Failand | access-date=29 January 2011 }}{{Dead link|date=June 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=no }}</ref> It was protected by the Avon Gorge to the north and east, by the steeply sloping Nightingale Valley on the south and by three ramparts which increase in size as they move inwards towards the central plateau, with the innermost vallum (a ditch and rampart with a palisade) being over {{convert|30|ft|m}} high.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.roman-britain.org/celtic/stokeleigh_camp.htm |title=Stokeleigh Camp |publisher=Roman Britain |access-date=29 January 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110703104427/http://roman-britain.org/celtic/stokeleigh_camp.htm |archive-date= 3 July 2011 }}</ref><ref name="haldane">{{cite journal | author = Haldane, J.W. | year = 1966 | title = Stokeleigh Camp, Somerset | journal = Proceedings of the University of Bristol Spelæological Society | volume = 11 | issue = 1 | pages = 31–38 | location = Bristol | publisher = University of Bristol Spelæological Society | format =PDF | access-date = 30 January 2011| url = http://www.ubss.org.uk/resources/proceedings/vol11/UBSS_Proc_11_1_31-38.pdf}}</ref> It shows evidence of dry walling along most of its length,<ref name="pastscape"/> although this may not be an original feature.<ref name="bain"/>
==Archaeological remains== Stokeleigh Camp is thought to have been occupied from the late pre-Roman Iron Age, when it was in the area controlled by the Dobunni.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=198375&resourceID=2 | title=Stokeleigh Camp | publisher=English Heritage | access-date=30 January 2011}}</ref> Archaeological investigations suggest during the 1st century Belgae tribes may have been present with some of the pottery showing the influence of the Durotriges. There may have been a break in occupation before reuse in the middle to late 2nd century.<ref name="pastscape"/>
In addition to the pottery recovered a possible coin of Gallienus dating from his reign between 253 and 268 has been recovered. An iron-involuted brooch of the La Tène II type has also been found.<ref name="pastscape"/>
It is unclear whether the occupation of Stokeleigh Camp in the 3rd century was for a formal garrison or whether it was just used by "squatters" or as a place of refuge in times of crisis. It has been suggested that Stokeleigh was connected with the Wansdyke, a series of defensive linear earthworks, consisting of a ditch and an embankment running at least from Maes Knoll in Somerset, to the Savernake Forest near Marlborough in Wiltshire, however there is little evidence for this.<ref name="bain"/>
It is also possible that the site was occupied in the Middle Ages.<ref name="bbcwhere">{{cite news|title=Where I Live: Bristol|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/bristol/content/nature/04.shtml|access-date=26 December 2010|newspaper=British Broadcasting Corporation|date=October 2004}}</ref>
==See also== *List of hill forts and ancient settlements in Somerset
==References== {{reflist|2}}
==External links== * [http://www1.somerset.gov.uk/archives/Maps/OS62htm/0601.htm Map of Leigh Woods from c.1900]
Category:Hill forts in Somerset Category:Scheduled monuments in North Somerset Category:Archaeological sites in Somerset