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Rainsborough, Northants, England: Excavations 1961–5

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 May 2014

Michael Avery ,
J. E. G. Sutton ,
J. W. Banks ,
M. S. Tite ,
J. G. Evans ,
M. J. Aitken ,
H. N. Hawley  and
A. J. Cain
Michael Avery
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology, Queen's University, Belfast
J. E. G. Sutton
Affiliation:
University of East Africa, Dar-es-Salaam
J. W. Banks
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, Liverpool University
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Extract

Rainsborough is 1 mile South of Charlton village, in the parish of Newbottle, S. Northants, 20 miles North of Oxford, (SP 526348). The camp lies at c. 480′ OD, and the area enclosed is c. 6·25 acres.

It lies on the edge of a plateau: the approaches to it are flat on the north-east, east, south and south-west, but a gentle slope to the north, north-west and west gives it a wide view across the Cherwell valley, towards Madmarston and Tadmarton (see map, fig. 1 and also pl. XXV). The defences are bivallate: the inner bank stands to 10 feet above the interior, and there is a drop of about 15 feet from the crest into the inner ditch; the second bank is very much lowered by ploughing, but still reaches a height of about 4 feet on the south side, where a hedge line has protected it; the outer ditch is nowhere visible on the surface, except on the west, when it carries a higher growth of weeds. The defences are covered with turf: the inner bank has also trees, bushes and the stumps of large beeches felled c. 1950. The bank is riddled with tree roots, and the sandy character of the core has attracted rabbits: recent attempts to dig and smoke out the warrens have slightly damaged the profile of the bank. A small dry stone wall is visible part way up the outer slope of the inner bank in several places.

Type
Research Article
Information
Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society , Volume 33 , February 1968 , pp. 207 - 306
Copyright
Copyright © The Prehistoric Society 1968

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