Maes Knoll Camp

Maes Knoll is an Iron Age hill fort on Dundry Down ridge in Somerset. It stands south of Bristol and north of Norton Malreward, near Dundry Hill. The site is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, protected for its historical importance. The fort occupies a triangular flat area on a steep-sided hilltop. Ramparts were built around the northern, eastern and south-western sides to strengthen defences. Archaeologists believe the fort was built around 250 BC by the Dobuni, a Celtic tribe. Barry Cunliffe, an archaeologist, argues the forts served as defensive strongholds during times of tension. The name Maes Knoll comes from Brythonic and Old English words meaning flat-topped hill. A large earthen mound called Maes Knoll Tump rises above the fort’s defences. Prehistoric Wansdyke, a linear earthwork, runs west and south-east from the site. Visitors reach the fort by walking up the steep slopes to the flat plateau. From the summit at 197 metres above sea level, views stretch north to Bristol, east to Bath and the Cotswolds, and south over Stanton Drew stone circles. A small corrugated-iron hut used by the Home Guard in the Second World War still leaves traces on the tump. Wartime stone cairns dot the plateau to the east, placed to deter glider landings. The underlying Jurassic rocks and the surrounding landscape add to the site’s atmosphere.