Tidbury Ring

Tidbury Ring stands on a low hill north of Sutton Scotney in Hampshire. The remains belong to an Iron Age hillfort, its once-imposing earthworks now much worn by centuries of ploughing. Sections on the southern side still rise clearly above the surrounding fields. A single entrance once pierced the defences on the south-east side. Inside, the flat interior is mostly farmland dotted with young trees and brambles. Traces of two Roman buildings were found within the old fort, perhaps part of a courtyard villa. The site is recognised as a scheduled ancient monument. In 1927 Canon A.B. Milner and a local schoolboy, Donald Falconer, dug part of the interior. Among broken tiles and pottery they recovered two brass coins struck for Constantine the Great before 311 AD. One coin, still bright, had been made in London. The discovery shows Roman activity continued long after the hillfort’s Iron Age use. The hill reaches 114 metres above sea level. The A34 dual carriageway runs close along the eastern edge of the site. Nearby to the south-east lies Norsebury Ring, another hillfort of similar age. Visitors walk the low ramparts and look across the Hampshire countryside. The surviving earthworks give a quiet sense of the fort’s original scale.