Why did someone bother building a fort here? Probably because it offered a decent view of the neighbors. The Frith is a modest univallate hillfort from the Iron Age. It sits just north of the Roman town of Calleva Atrebatum. It is a small piece of earthworks. It features a single bank that rises about 5 feet on the western edge.
Is it a massive, sprawling complex? Not at all. It is just a tidy loop of earth and ditch that covers almost all sides except the southeast. Can you still see the ditch? Yes, it runs along the length of the bank even though time has softened it. It sits on a slope that drops toward the west. An unnamed hill rises 500 metres to the southwest.
What can be said for the proximity to the Roman road? It is quite something. While the people to the south were busy establishing a sophisticated town, these prehistoric residents kept their quiet, dirt-walled lookout. It is a humble bit of engineering that survived for centuries.
Where can you find it today? You can find it within Benyon's Inclosure in the Mortimer West End Civil Parish. A local footpath crosses the site from east to west. You can walk right over the history. It is peaceful and mostly wooded to the north. It is perfectly ordinary. Isn't that exactly why it is so interesting?
Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons
Written by Nicolo Ciampini
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