Uplaw Knowe palisaded settlement

Excavation has demonstrated that at several sites the earthen defences were preceded by timber palisades. Palisaded enclosures are a rare monument type with fewer than 200 known examples. They are an important element of the later prehistoric settlement pattern and are important for any study of the developing use of defended settlements during the later prehistoric period. All identified surviving examples are believed to be nationally important.

The palisaded settlement east of Uplaw Knowe is reasonably well-preserved as a low earthwork with evidence of settlement in the form of hut circles. The monument will contain archaeological and environmental deposits which will provide insight into the contruction, use and abandonment of the settlement and the surrounding landscape. The significance of the monument is increased by the presence of other Iron Age/Romano-British settlement remains close to the south east. These remains include a broadly contemporary palisaded settlement NNE of Hosedon Linn. Taken together these monuments provide important insight into the character and development of settlement and subsistence during the Iron Age to the Romano-British period.

The monument includes the remains of a palisaded settlement of Iron Age date, situated on the east slopes of Uplaw Knowe. The enclosure is egg-shaped and is surrounded by a palisade trench preserved as a very low earthwork and in places as a cropmark. Within the interior of the enclosure are the remains of at least two hut circles with diameters of 13.5m and 14m, which are preserved as ring-grooves.