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Smedmore Hill is a Iron Age settlement located in Dorset, England, comprising a defended enclosure with associated field systems of prehistoric date. The settlement is characterised by defensive earthworks that define the main habitation area, whilst the surrounding landscape preserves evidence of contemporary agricultural organisation in the form of field boundaries and lynchets typical of Iron Age land division. The site represents an important example of Iron Age settlement patterns in Dorset, demonstrating the integration of domestic occupation with managed agricultural land during the later prehistoric period. The earthworks remain substantially visible as upstanding archaeological features, providing evidence for the scale and organisation of Iron Age community life in the region.
Iron Age settlement and associated field system on Smedmore Hill is a scheduled monument protected by Historic England under reference 1014835. View the official record →
Smedmore Hill is a Iron Age settlement located in Dorset, England, comprising a defended enclosure with associated field systems of prehistoric date. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic England (NHLE) under reference 1014835.
Iron Age settlement and associated field system on Smedmore Hill is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by Historic England (NHLE) — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in England. The official designation reference is 1014835.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Bowl barrow on Swyre Head (1.3 km), Alum works, other multi-period industrial remains and an associated group of jetties and breakwaters, Kimmeridge Bay (2.7 km), Kingston Down Romano-British farm (2.8 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 15 strands of Iron Age settlement and associated field system on Smedmore Hill's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Iron Age settlement and associated field system on Smedmore Hill stands on Purbeck Limestone Group, bedrock that formed in the Berriasian. The rock here is limestone and mudstone, interbedded.