Hod Hill

Hod Hill is a large hill fort in the Blackmore Vale, 3 miles north-west of Blandford Forum, Dorset, England [1]. The fort sits on a 143 m chalk hill of the same name that lies between the adjacent Dorset Downs and Cranborne Chase [1]. The fort is roughly rectangular, with an enclosed area of 22 ha [1]. There is a steep natural slope down to the River Stour to the west, the other sides have an artificial rampart, ditch and counterscarp [1]. The hillfort was inhabited by the Durotriges in the late Iron Age; whether this is the same tribe who fortified the hilltop in the middle Iron Age (radiocarbon analysis suggests a date of 500 BC for the main rampart) is unknown [1]. The Romans built a camp in the north-west corner of the original fort, possibly occupied by a mixed force of legionaries and auxiliaries [1]. The fort was used as a base for about 5 or 6 years, but passed out of use by about AD 50, when troops were withdrawn, after a fire, for the campaigns against Caractacus in Wales [1]. The site was excavated in the 1950s by Sir Ian Richmond and his final report was published in 1969 [1].