Sharpenhoe Clappers: an Iron Age promontory fort, medieval warren and associated medieval cultivation earthworks

Scheduled area

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History & significance

Sharpenhoe Clappers is a multiphase ancient monument located near Streatley in Bedfordshire, comprising an Iron Age promontory fort overlain by medieval features of considerable archaeological interest. The Iron Age fortification utilises the natural defensive position afforded by the steep chalk escarpment, with surviving earthwork defences that demonstrate the strategic importance of this elevated location during the late prehistoric period. The site was subsequently adapted for medieval use as a warren, reflecting the changing economic exploitation of the landscape during the medieval period, and is accompanied by associated cultivation earthworks that illustrate the agricultural intensification of the medieval countryside. The surviving topography preserves evidence of multiple periods of occupation and use, making Sharpenhoe Clappers significant for understanding both Iron Age settlement patterns and medieval land management practices in the chalk downland landscape of south-central England.

Sharpenhoe Clappers: an Iron Age promontory fort, medieval warren and associated medieval cultivation earthworks is a scheduled monument protected by Historic England under reference 1009400. View the official record →

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