Nordy Bank
52°27′30″N 2°37′33″W / 52.4583°N 2.6257°W
Nordy Bank is an Iron Age hill fort on Brown Clee Hill in the Shropshire Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in South Shropshire, England.[1]
Location
[edit]The nearest village is Clee St. Margaret, overlooking Ludlow, the nearest market town.[2] The fort probably dates to between the late Bronze Age and the early Iron Age. The site is a scheduled monument under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979.[3]
Description
[edit]Nordy Bank is a univallate (having a single circuit of ramparts for enclosure and defence) hill fort situated on the western end of a spur running west from the main plateau of Brown Clee Hill. The maximum dimensions of the oval enclosure are 260 m (850 ft) by 200 m (660 ft), and it covers an area of 3.2 hectares (7.9 acres). The main entrance seems to be on the northeastern portion, facing along the ridge. A broadening and lowering of the ramparts here suggest that there may have been a gatehouse structure. A secondary entrance lies halfway along the southern side; this one lies above a steep slope making it less vulnerable to attack, and there is no sign of a guard-house here. The other gaps in the rampart are thought to be modern. There are some slight indications of the remains of structures on the inner side of the rampart; this is most notable in the northwestern part where an 8 m (26 ft) square building seems to have been located. The fort will probably have been used as a stock enclosure, a place of refuge and a permanent settlement.[3]
The defensive ditch earthworks are in good condition although past quarrying has damaged part of the ramparts on the southeastern part.[3]
The Jack Mytton Way long distance footpath passes adjacent to the site and the Shropshire Way runs 2 km to the northeast.[4]
Nordy Bank is the location setting of Sheena Porter's novel Nordy Bank (1964).[5]
References
[edit]- ^ "Nordy Bank - Hillfort in England in Shropshire". Megalithic.cxo.uk. Retrieved 21 October 2018.
- ^ Philip's (1994). Atlas of the World. Reed International. p. 16. ISBN 0-540-05831-9.
- ^ a b c "Nordy Bank: a slight univallate hillfort 400m north east of New House Farm". Historic England. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
- ^ "The Path". Shropshire Way Association. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
- ^ "Nordy Bank by Sheena Porter" Archived 28 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine. Literary Heritage: West Midlands. Shropshire Council. 14 September 2003.
External links
[edit]- BBC Panoramic of Nordy Bank in summer
- Photos of Nordy Bank and surrounding area on geograph
- Nordy Bank on the Roman-Britain website
