Near the village of Kirklington is a hill called Hexgrave Park, where there are evident marks of an encampment, the ditch and vallum here and there perfect, but the plough has so totally destroyed them in other places that no precise shape can be made out. (1)
Hill Close site of encampment. (2)
Hill Close Camp - a curious series of entrenchments crown the summit of a hill. The extremities of the outworks were destroyed before 1818, but the remains exhibited a central enclosure within a vallum, slightly higher than the surrounding ground. In 1864 it was said that the vallum and fosse could still be traced, but that the intermediate lines were destroyed. (3)
Traces of parallel ditches have been found in the wood at above grid ref. (4) Depressions indicating ditches can be seen on the N and S sides of the site, but do not correspond to VCH plan. (5)
"Camp Hill" is under plough; no earthworks are now identifiable and only modern field debris is evident on the surface. The site is situate upon a low rise encircled by the 200ft contour and commands an open aspect but in itself has few defensive qualities. The depressions of (5) cannot be traced on the ground, and the ditches of (4) (now traced with difficulty) appear irrigational. BB Simmons is now resident outside the county and was not contacted; the present location of the finds was not ascertained (see L8296). Camp Hill is listed as an "IA hillfort" by (4) but nothing appears to have been recorded to justify this and the topographical situation does not support such a classification. (6)
Crop marks immediately N of Camp Hill showing the remains of the earthworks (5), immediately SE of Camp Hill probably continuation of surviving earthworks (7). (8)
See L 8296 for Ro finds (including lead pig).

Data Held: Aerial Photograph (Aerial photograph). SNT2645.

1 BW print, CPE/UK2009/1398

<1> Soc of Ants of London, 1789, Archaeologia, p 200 (Published document). SNT93.

<2> OS, 1885, 1:2500, County Series 1885 (Map). SNT1013.

<3> VCH, 1906, Notts, p 295 (Published document). SNT1383.

<4> Thoroton Society, 1963, TTS, pp 13-15 (Published document). SNT377.

<5> OS, Air photos (Aerial photograph). SNT983.

Other Refs: 67 208 197-8

<6> Colquhoun FD, 1975, Pers Comm (Personal comment). SNT583.

<7> Fairey Surveys, Air photos (Aerial photograph). SNT680.

Other Refs: FSL/7145, 4480-1

<8> TPAU, Mar 1999, Results of the study of aerial photographs and other documentary evidence for proposed brickworks and clay extraction site at Belle Eau Park, Bilsthorpe, Notts, p 4 (Unpublished document). SNT2000.