Iron Age and Romano-British settlement remains on Rotherley Down

Rotherley Down Settlement lies on a hilltop in Cranborne Chase, Wiltshire, about two and a half kilometres south of Berwick St John and one and a half kilometres north of Tollard Royal. The scheduled monument covers roughly two hectares on the brow of Rotherley Down. Augustus Pitt Rivers, who lived on the nearby Rushmore Estate from 1880, excavated the site between 1885 and 1886. He left a stone monument at the centre describing his findings. The remains show occupation from the first century BC to the third century AD. The settlement includes a large circular enclosure surrounded by a bank and ditch, with storage pits inside. Banks and ditches mark the sites of former houses, more storage pits and smaller enclosures. Roman-period features include a corn drying oven, a large rectangular building and an external stock enclosure. Earlier burials yielded a Bronze Age crouched skeleton with a beaker and stone tools from Neolithic and Bronze Age layers. Bones from the main occupation period were smaller than those found elsewhere on Cranborne Chase, suggesting to Pitt Rivers that the inhabitants lived in poorer conditions. Visitors walk among the low earthworks and banks that outline the circular enclosure and surrounding buildings. The central stone monument records Pitt Rivers’ discoveries. Beyond the main area, further banks and ditches mark additional structures and enclosures. The hilltop setting offers wide views across Cranborne Chase. The site is quiet, with few visitors, and the remains are best seen on foot.