Univallate hillfort on Great Wanney Crag

The hillfort on Great Wanney Crag is very well preserved and retains significant archaeological deposits. The importance of this monument is enhanced by the survival of other forms of contemporary and later settlement in the area; it will contribute to any study of the wider settlement pattern at this time.

The monument includes a hillfort of Iron Age date situated on the edge of the highest point of Great Wanney Crag. The hillfort is semi-circular in shape and is defended on three sides by an artificial rampart; the fourth side is defended by the steep precipitous slopes of Wanney Crag. The enclosure measures 97m north-east to south-west by 50m north-west to south-east within a single rampart of earth and stone 7m broad and 1.2m above the bottom of an outer ditch 3m wide. There is a funnel shaped entrance in the south-east side of the enclosure, carried across the ditch on a causeway.

A univallate hillfort lying on a cliff edge at 312m OD on the highest point of Great Wanney Crag. It forms an irregular semi-circle in plan with a single bank and outer ditch which terminates on precipitous crags in the NW. It measures 97m NE-SW by 50m NW-SE with an earth and stone rampart 7m wide and 1.2m high externally and a 3m wide ditch. The remains are well defined except in the SW. A funnel-shaped entrance lies in the SE with a causeway across the ditch. No internal features are visible. The site is shown on 1856-65 OS mapping. Minimal investigations, undated. A line of cupmarked stones lie to the S of the enclosure.

Source: Lock, Gary and Ralston, Ian. 2024. Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland. Available at: https://hillforts.arch.ox.ac.uk (CC BY-SA 4.0)