Scheduled MonumentsEnglandPenbury Knoll camp on Pentridge Hill

Penbury Knoll camp on Pentridge Hill

England
List entry 1002717
Nation
England
The designation
Reference
List entry 1002717
Authority
Historic England (NHLE)
Status
Scheduled Monument
Scheduled area
2.34 hectares
Grid reference
SU 03962 17109
Boundary

Scheduled area

© Mapbox · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Boundary data © Historic England (NHLE)

Overview

History & significance

Penbury Knoll camp is a Neolithic causewayed enclosure located on Pentridge Hill in Dorset. The monument consists of interrupted ditch systems defining an oval or circular earthwork, characteristic of causewayed camps dating to the early Neolithic period, approximately 3700 to 3500 BCE. These enclosures served multiple functions including ritual gathering places, livestock corrals, and centres of community activity. The site remains an important archaeological record of early farming settlement in southern Britain, though like many such monuments its precise original appearance and use continue to inform ongoing scholarly investigation.

Penbury Knoll camp on Pentridge Hill is a scheduled monument protected by Historic England under reference 1002717. View the official record →

About this monument

Questions & answers

What is Penbury Knoll camp on Pentridge Hill?

Penbury Knoll camp is a Neolithic causewayed enclosure located on Pentridge Hill in Dorset. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic England (NHLE) under reference 1002717.

Who is responsible for protecting Penbury Knoll camp on Pentridge Hill?

Penbury Knoll camp on Pentridge 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 1002717.

What other scheduled monuments are near Penbury Knoll camp on Pentridge Hill?

Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Group of henge monuments, an associated group of round barrows, a Saxon cemetery, and a Norman church at Knowlton (7.3 km), Round barrow cemetery south of New Barn Farm, associated with the Knowlton Circles (7.7 km), Bowl barrow 240m north east of Martin's Farm Bungalow (8.6 km).

Unlimited access

Everything a full report reveals about Penbury Knoll camp on Pentridge Hill

This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 15 strands of Penbury Knoll camp on Pentridge Hill's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:

Overview
An interactive map of the location with every monument and battle plotted, and a plain-language history built only from what the record holds.
Monuments
The legally protected scheduled monuments around the location, each with its period, type and significance.
Battlefields
The battles and sieges fought on this ground, mapped and set on a timeline of the wider conflict.
Roman Britain
The Roman roads, forts and towns near here, and the Iron Age people who held the land before Rome arrived.
Domesday
The settlement's entry in the 1086 Domesday Book: who held it, what it was worth, and the people who worked the land.
Civil War
The Civil War fighting, garrisons and recorded militaria in this area, woven into the arc of 1642 to 1651.
Geology
The bedrock beneath the site, its age and rock type, reaching back hundreds of millions of years.
LiDAR
Laser-scanned terrain that reveals earthworks hidden under fields and woodland, with likely features flagged.
Local Names
What the street and field names around here actually mean, and the history buried inside them.
Historical Maps
Ordnance Survey maps from the 1800s, layered over the location as it stands today.
Literature
The books, county histories, charters and archives that mention this place, quoted with their sources.
Legal
The protected sites nearby and the metal-detecting, access and treasure laws that apply to this ground.
Spotlight
A deep dive into the most remarkable, lesser-known history of the place, traced back to the record.
Target Zones
For detectorists: the most promising ground to search nearby, ranked by confidence, with what to expect.
Timeline
The whole story of the location told era by era, from prehistory to the present day.
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Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.

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The ground beneath

The bedrock under Penbury Knoll camp on Pentridge Hill

Penbury Knoll camp on Pentridge Hill stands on Lambeth Group, bedrock that formed in the Paleocene. The rock here is clay, silt, sand and gravel.

The wider landscape

Around Penbury Knoll camp on Pentridge Hill

Old SarumArchaeological site · ~11.4 milesStonehengeArchaeological site · ~16.4 miles