Page:VCH Staffordshire 1.djvu/376

 A HISTORY OF STAFFORDSHIRE It is difficult in the county of Stafford to follow strictly the above classification owing to certain peculiarities of types. For this reason all the camps on hill-tops have been placed under class B, and all the fortified mounds in the above classification divided into classes D and E have been grouped together. Most of the plans have been taken from the Ordnance maps, which have been checked and measured approximately on the spot ; and some of the plans and all the sections have been produced from approximate measure- ments, and levelling taken on the sites. In every instance personal inspec- tion has been made either by the writer or by surveyors in his employ- ment. The general position of the hill forts in relation to this county may be stated as follows : In the extreme south-western corner of the shire is the fort on Kinver Edge ; at about forty miles in a direct line northward there is ' Berth Hill ' in the parish of Maer ; at nearly a right angle to this, eastwards, is ' Bunbury ' in the parish of Alton, about eighteen miles distant ; at about twenty-four miles nearly due south from this, in the parish of Shenstone, is ' Castle Old Fort,' which is fourteen miles north-east from Kinver Edge. These four examples lie near to the boundaries of the shire. The remaining three, follow a winding diagonal line between ' Castle Old Fort ' and ' Berth Hill ; the first of these, ' Castle Ring,' being 7 miles from Castle Old Fort ; 'Bury Ring' being 10 miles from 'Castle Ring' : ' Bury Bank,' in a direct line northwards, about 10 miles from Castle Ring, and about 5 miles from Berth Hill. It will be noticed from this that for the whole width east and west of the county, and for 17 miles from north to south, the extreme north part has no example of the description termed the hill fort. It would not be of any profit to speculate on the reasons which led to the placing of these forts in their actual positions, but it may be emphasized that those near the east and west boundaries lie in lines very nearly north and south, and that the two to the north run in line nearly due east and west, and also that the central area between the others is well covered by the intermediate forts. That this class of earthworks was for the purposes of succour and defence there can be no question. That collectively they form the means of safety over a given area is tolerably clear. They would seem to bear internal evidence that they all were constructed by the same people, for their main characteristics are strikingly alike. In every case their situa- tion is on high ground from which full command is obtained, both of their immediate surroundings and of very extensive distant prospects. In fact, from each of them a panoramic view of vast extent is obtainable. In each a certain length of boundary abuts upon the upper edge of the steep slope of natural hills, the remaining boundaries are more or less circular in form, with the exception of that at Kinver Edge, which is distinguished as being rectangular ; thus, speaking generally, they are irregular in shape. The mode of their construction seems to have been as follows : The site having been carefully selected with command and defence in view, and the size determined upon, the ground within the prescribed area was used for pro- curing by excavation the necessary materials for the inner vallum, in some cases mixed with rubble stone. The material so procured, with that from 332