Badbury, Wimborne

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Badbury Rings

In the civil parish of Shapwick.
In the historic county of Dorset (Modern Authority of Dorset, 1974 county of Dorset).

Leland writes "Close to Wimborne the Saxon kings had a castle, now completely demolished, which is now called Badbury. The banks and ditches and site of the castle are still visible, but now rabbits burrow into it." The site a multivallate Iron Age hill-fort, is sited prominently on a chalk knoll rising to 327 ft. above O.D.; it commands wide views in all directions. Together with the adjacent settlement (ST 90 SE 37) it has been identified with Vindocladia of the Antonine Itinerary, and also with Mons Badonicus of Gildas. Its later history includes occupation by an army under Ethelwold, c. 899, and by the `Clubmen' in 1645. The site has not been excavated, but the earthworks indicate at least two phases of construction. The interior of the hill-fort is domed and largely covered with trees. A prominent fir copse, Badbury Clump, within a low embanked circle on the summit of the knoll had already been planted when Colt Hoare visited the site c. 1820. There is evidence of shallow quarrying immediately inside the inner rampart, doubtless to provide additional material for the defences.

This site has been described as a;
Timber Castle.
This site is rejected as a medieval fortification or palace.
This site is a listed building protected by law*. (Images of England number )

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is ST964030

Modern Map from

Good for landscape form and features

Modern Map from

Good for general location

Air Photo from

1st edition OS Map from

Sources of information, references and further reading

PastScape number; 209560

Books

Hogg, A.H.A., 1979, British Hill-Forts: An Index (BAR 62)
Crawford, O.G.S. and Keller, Alexander, 1928, Wessex from the Air p58-61

Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)

Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p139

Other sources and unpublished works (Theses, in-house reports and other such)

Donachie, J.D., 1994 May 19, RCHME Field Survey Report: Badbury Rings, Shapwick, Dorset

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*The listed building may not be the actual medieval building, but a building on the site of, or incorporating fragments of, the described site.

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This record last updated on Friday, April 6, 2007

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