Roundway Down and Covert

Roundway Down and Covert
Roundway Down and Covert
	Roundway Down
Type	Hillfort and battle ground
Location	Wiltshire, England
Coordinates	51.38045°N 2.00139°W
Area	86 hectares (210 acres)
Built	c. 800 BC - 450 BC
Scheduled monument
Official name	Oliver's Camp and two round barrows outside Oliver's Camp
Designated	10 November 1964
Reference no.	1005709
Registered battlefield
Official name	Battle of Roundway Down 1643
Designated	05 Jun 1995
Reference no.	1000030
	Roundway Down and Covert
Site of Special Scientific Interest
	Location within Wiltshire
Location	Wiltshire
Grid reference	ST9990364655
Coordinates	51.38045°N 2.00139°W
Interest	Biological
Area	86-hectare (212.5-acre)
Notification	1971
	Natural England website

Roundway Down and Covert (grid reference SU000646) is an area of sloping chalk grassland close to the hamlet of Roundway, near Devizes in Wiltshire, England. It is part of the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. At the summit of the slope are ancient earthworks, evidence of a Bronze Age human settlement and Iron Age hillfort.

Quick Facts Type, Location ...

Close

During the Civil War, the Battle of Roundway Down was fought here in 1643, and today the hillfort is known locally as "Oliver's Castle" or "Oliver's Camp".^[1]

In 1971 the 86-hectare (210-acre) site was notified as a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest.

Archaeological remains of a univallate hillfort exist at the top of Roundway Hill, a chalk escarpment. The fortifications are thought to date from between the Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age (between the eighth and fifth century BC). The site consists of a triangular central area of approximately 1.6 hectares (4.0 acres) enclosed by a single rampart, ditch and counterscarp bank. The north and south sides have steep natural slopes, and so the remains of the main defences are found on the eastern side. Also situated on the summit are two bowl barrows (types of tumuli).^[1]

In 1907, the archaeologists Maud Cunnington and Ben Cunnington excavated the site. They found evidence of an older Bronze Age settlement below the hillfort, and artefacts such as Romano-British pottery, antler and animal bone suggested that the site had been a centre of human activity for a prolonged period. Excavations in the bowl barrows revealed evidence of a cremation, along with an incense cup, perforated conical buttons and secondary urn burials, flints, and Bronze Age and Romano-British pottery. Further excavations in 1977 revealed more artefacts, along with evidence that the barrows were at one time incorporated into the hillfort's outer ramparts.^[1]

The hillfort was designated a scheduled monument in 1964.^[1]

During the First English Civil War, Roundway Down became the site of a noted battle. On 13th July 1643, a Royalist cavalry force under Lord Wilmot fought the Parliamentarian Army of the West under Sir William Waller in the Battle of Roundway Down.^[2]^[3]

The Parliamentarian forces were defeated and at the end of the battle, a large number of their fleeing cavalry rode over the 300 feet (91 m) cliff to their deaths. The ditch at the bottom was given the name "Bloody Ditch" as a result of this rout, while the hillfort is now known as "Oliver’s Camp" or "Oliver’s Castle" (after Oliver Cromwell).^[2]

The site was notified as a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in 1971. The escarpment is noted as a habitat for rare wildflower species such as bastard toadflax, early gentian, field fleawort and round-headed rampion, as well as a range of insects, including over 30 types of butterfly.^[4]

To the south-east of Roundway Down on Bank Field is the Devizes Millennium White Horse, a chalk hill figure of a horse which was carved into the hillside in 1999.^[5]