Knap Hill

Knap Hill stands on the northern edge of the Vale of Pewsey in Wiltshire, about 1.6 kilometres north of Alton Priors. It is a chalk hill with a Neolithic causewayed enclosure at its summit. The enclosure is a rare form of earthwork built from about 3700 BC, marked by ditches interrupted by causeways. Two round barrows once stood inside the enclosure, one destroyed in the 19th century. A third barrow lies just outside to the south-west. The site is important because it was the first causewayed enclosure to be excavated and identified. In 1908 and 1909, Benjamin and Maud Cunnington spent two summers investigating Knap Hill. Their work showed several gaps in the ditch and bank surrounding the enclosure. Excavations in 1961 by Graham Connah provided detailed records of the site’s layers. Radiocarbon dating in 2011 suggested the enclosure was built between 3530 and 3375 BC with 91% probability. Visitors find a grassy hilltop with the remains of the Neolithic enclosure’s ditch and bank. The enclosure covers about 2.4 hectares and has seven segments of ditch and bank with six causeways. A smaller plateau enclosure to the north-east shows signs of Romano-British occupation and later use in the 17th century. The hill slopes steeply to the south but more gently to the north and west. Golden Ball Hill lies to the east and Walker Hill to the west, both with traces of ancient activity.