WHY DO HILLFORTS HAVE RAMPARTS

[@SamWalksALot]

Very interesting video, thank you James!

[@jameswalksinhistory3848]

My pleasure-Thank you my friend ❤️👍

[@Ci-Me122...]

James, your knowledge is immense and appreciated. You are always a joy to watch. Thank you! Cheers from Canada.

[@jameswalksinhistory3848]

So nice of you-Thank you for watching

[@alexedward7146]

Very interesting! Would like to see more like it

[@jameswalksinhistory3848]

Thank you- I enjoy feet on the ground history and the challenge of placing it all into a context that will motivate others to enjoy history-Thank you for watching my small adventures

[@DickieMintCycles]

Ancient building contractors.. Interesting theory.. Just had a James Walks History fest and caught up with the last few months of your films.. Always learning from them..Thank you James 👍ATB

[@jameswalksinhistory3848]

Thank you Richard -So much we don't know very little we do -Thank you for watching my friend

[@Traveler13]

Great one again James, makes the one i was looking at less of a hill fort more of a defended settlement, this one is quite spectacular

[@jameswalksinhistory3848]

Thank you - Always amazed that feet on the ground history may expose so many possibilities -Thank you for watching

[@davidberlanny3308]

Hi James, really interesting to see these forts and their bulwarks. I wonder if they started off as dewponds until they realised their potential for other purposes. The hillforts of my youth were the Palmerston follies on Portsdown Hill. These were made such that an invading force coming up the hill could not see the fort until they found themselves falling into the moat!! The ditches in these ancient forts would have made taking the fight to them a terrible task. Very enjoyable to watch, well done!!

[@jameswalksinhistory3848]

Hi David-I always retain an open mind and believe due to un-written history anything in advance of our present understanding is possible-Thank you so much for watching my small adventure in history 😊👍

[@BobDouce]

Good evening James ,thank you for your thoughts and information. I like to sit or wander around my local forts and try to imagine how and why. One thing for sure, you don't go to that much trouble unless what's inside has great value, at that time food, tribal leaders and religious leaders, maybe locals if they can get there quick enough. 🧔 👍

[@jameswalksinhistory3848]

So true Bob-Thank you for watching and your great comment ⭐

[@cleopatra5682]

That was really interesting. Thank you.

[@jameswalksinhistory3848]

Thank you for watching my small adventure in history

[@cleopatra5682]

@@jameswalksinhistory3848 It’s a pleasure to watch your channel. I’m intrigued by our ancient ancestors 😊

[@jaynesierakowska3120]

Thank you. Very interesting.

[@jameswalksinhistory3848]

Thank you so much for watching one of my small adventures in history again Jayne

[@newforestexplorer]

Great video James and the clarity is fantastic have you a new camera ? Now I’m off to take a little walk around my local hill fort - from Scratchbury to Tatchbury 😄

[@jameswalksinhistory3848]

No I am finally getting to grips with my phone and editing - I film using a Redmi Note 10 pro phone and use Clipchamp for editing (I know cheapskate using a free editing programme -Taken all this time to master it all )-Thank you for watching my friend

[@newforestexplorer]

@@jameswalksinhistory3848 awesome ! Keep up the good work

[@jameswalksinhistory3848]

@@newforestexplorer Thank you

[@davidian7787]

I spent a lot of time walking around Tatchbury Mount and I always found myself wondering why the local Belgae fought the Roman army in a field battle about two miles from the hillfort at Netley Marsh. The Romans (Second Augustine) occupied the position later as it commands a good field of view right down to Southampton water and was already a fortified site. I have found biscuitware pottery in the fields nearby. There's no record of the fort being stormed and the majority action seems to have taken place a few miles away, not what you would expect from such an investment of time and effort to build such a place.

[@jameswalksinhistory3848]

I think that is the main point of *Feet on the ground* history it opens our minds to so many possibilities -Thank you for watching my small adventure in history

[@johnwood164]

150 is a bit of a low figure for the hillfort. The fort would act as a safe haven in the time of conflict. The surrounding population that used this fort would have probably run into hundreds, if not thousands.

[@jameswalksinhistory3848]

Population now that is or can be regarded as a controversial subject into the Iron Age -I do accept your reasoning -Thank you for watching

[@Section5_CdnIntelService]

Makes you wonder what real or imagined threat prompted them to put all that work into protecting their hilltop villages. Were those places constantly occupied or were they places of refuge for the local sods to congregate when the monsters ate their cattle?

[@jameswalksinhistory3848]

So true-Thank you for watching my small adventure in history

[@alastairoswald7604]

It’s great that you enjoy making these films, but - honestly - please do more research before encouraging other people to accept your ideas. For example, causewayed enclosures are early Neolithic, dating to 3,900- 3,400 BC, but the enclosure within Scratchbury is more likely to be later prehistoric - it hasn’t seriously been considered as Neolithic since the 1930s and excavation has only produced Iron Age pottery. Second, ramparts are not just earthen bamks - some had timber superstructures of different kinds, others were effectively timber-faced or stone-faced walls. Entrances weren’t just gaps - excavation has shown that they often had elaborate timber gate structures and often outworks. Ditches have silted so much that they are usually several metres shallower than they were in the Iron Age - there is no way livestock could have been left to graze in them. And ramparts and ditches were often remodelled many times - calculations of the labour involved need to take that into account.

[@jameswalksinhistory3848]

Thank you for your great comments and thank you for watching -My research is thorough and as accurate as a history hobby guy can retain -My thoughts are just that my thoughts !

[@alastairoswald7604]

​@@jameswalksinhistory3848well, we're all 'history hobby guys', but it doesn't take a lot of research to get the basics right - there are loads of well- researched, easily readable books about hill forts. And some good films on the web too. The internet can do without more people spreading misinformation.

[@RobertJohnLangdon-author]

@@alastairoswald7604 - It's unfortunate that such negative comments are being made here. Normally, I’d let it go, but your tone and opinions seem so misinformed and overconfident. I highly recommend broadening your perspective by reading more scientific literature on the subject. It might give you a more balanced view and perhaps a bit of humility as well!

[@johnwood164]

@RobertJohnLangdon-author I thought his informed comment was fair. Furthermore the ditches were originally very narrow at the bottom and wouldn't be suitable for keeping livestock.

[@rolandstravels]

Thanks, James. It’s nice to see this and the lovely surrounding countryside. 😊