Hod Hill

Hod Hill is one of the largest Iron Age hillforts in Dorset, England, enclosing 22 hectares on a 143-metre chalk hill overlooking the River Stour. Fortified no later than the 5th century BC by the Durotriges tribe, the interior contained over 200 round houses with bivallate defences featuring ramparts up to 4.5 metres high. Following the Roman invasion in 43 AD, the Second Augustan Legion under future emperor Vespasian captured the site, leaving numerous ballista bolts as evidence of the assault. The Romans built a 4.4-hectare fort in the northwest corner, housing approximately 500 legionaries and 250 cavalry until its abandonment around 51 AD. The site was partially excavated by Ian Richmond between 1951 and 1958.