The Archaeology Files - Hod Hill

Date of visit: 1 March 2020
Location: 3 miles north west of Blandford Forum, Dorset
Time period: Iron Age, c.800 BC to AD 43 (incorporating later Roman fortifications)
Type of site: Iron Age hillfort with Roman earthwork remains
Photos: Hod Hill site visit photo album 

Hod Hill sits, like its twin hillfort Hambledon Hill, in the peaceful Dorset countryside, commanding a significant vista over its immediate hinterland.  On first impressions, the hill must be high, for it is an exasperating climb to its 68-metre (223 feet) summit, made all-the-harder by thick, deep mud, which clings to your boots, and makes each step a struggle.  I've come here on an early March day, following on from a tremendously wet winter, and many of the surrounding fields are flooded.  Of course, weather like this would not have bothered the original inhabitants of the hillfort, who would have had little need to regularly traverse the steep slopes, but for the amateur archaeologist and enthusiastic visitor, the earthen trackway leading up to the hillfort entrance makes for a perilous expedition.

Aerial photo of Hod Hill, showing the extent of the Roman fort in the north west corner of the hillfort

The literature will tell you that Hod Hill, at 22 hectares, is the largest hillfort in Dorset.  I suppose they've done the maths on this, but I can't say it feels anywhere near the size of Maiden Castle, as I trudge across its sheep-filled interior.  Maybe it's because the site is more square in shape, making up in width what it lacks in length, compared to its famous Dorchester sister.  Hod Hill follows the general trend of all hillforts, being occupied by the fifth century BC (possibly earlier) and growing in population so that by the first century BC, its interior would have been covered by possibly hundreds of round huts, laid out in a rudimentary grid system.  Here lived people of the Durotrige tribe, who inhabited what we now call Dorset and were, in my opinion, Britain's master hillfort builders.  There are some mighty earth ramparts around the perimeter of this hillfort, which given the elevation of the site, is perhaps surprising, and suggests a paranoia amongst the population - which, to be fair, turned out to be entirely justified.  I'm not going to discount the idea that some of the purpose of the ramparts was to discourage livestock from escaping - the steep hill here would make it very difficult and time-consuming to recapture escaped animals.

Hod Hill - external ditch and ramparts

Most hillforts appear to have been abandoned before the Roman invasion of AD 43, but at Hod Hill there is evidence of some resistance to the Roman Army, where eleven Roman ballista bolts have been recovered, apparently trained on one high-status round house, which is sometimes known as the "Chieftain's hut".  It brings an uneasy feeling to mind, for here at Hod is the real impact of the Roman invasion, at least for those who resisted the invading force - men, woman, children and families doing their best to defend themselves and their home against a vastly superior military force which, after all, appeared on these shores without invitation.  So far, no evidence has been discovered for a big massacre at Hod Hill, but archaeological investigation does show that there was a rapid abandonment of round houses when the Romans arrived - so perhaps the population surrendered and were allowed to leave, but only in a hurry.

So if this is the case, why were they made to leave so quickly?  It was the responsibility of the Roman Legio II Augusta, under the control of the future Emperor Vespasian, to pacify the Durotriges and seize the hillforts in this part of the country.  After Hod Hill was pacified and its occupants removed, the legion saw in the site an excellent strategic point, most likely due to its proximity to the River Stour, a trading route and potential military supply line.  Consequentially, a fort was built within the parameter of the hillfort, centred on the north west corner of the site, to house a Legionary cohort (of around 500 men) and cavalry detachment (about 250 men - but imagine getting horses up-and-down this hill.)  What makes this particularly fascinating is that the earthworks associated with the Roman fort still survive very clearly, especially in aerial photographs - although I found the site harder to interpret on the ground.  As it happens, the Legionary cohort didn't stay here very long, abandoning the site in AD 51 as military priorities changed, and Legio II Augusta turned its sights further west, to the Dumnonii tribe, whose capital sat at what we now call Exeter.

View from within the Roman section of the hillfort, looking east towards the Roman fortification - see below for photo location 

Plan of Hod Hill showing location of above photo (source: British History online)

At Hod Hill, the Durotriges left behind one of the iconic archaeological sites in the landscape of the south west.  I talk fairly frequently about the atmosphere you can sometimes perceive in ancient places, and Hod Hill is another one of these.  On my visit, the weather rolled in quickly, dusk took an early turn, and it started to rain when I was at the farthest and most exposed part of the hillfort.  It felt eerie and almost uncomfortable at that point, like a sudden bout of agoraphobia, mixed with a general perception that I was on foreign ground, somewhere I wasn't supposed to be.  Maybe it's just because I was the only person up there, or perhaps the weight of ancientness and history somehow got inside of me, but once I felt it, I was fairly quick to leave.  Regardless of this, Hod Hill is a unique place, and having the chance to explore the site has fulfilled a longing that's been smouldered in me for many years.