place

Membury Camp

Hill forts in BerkshireHill forts in Wiltshire
Membury Camp geograph.org.uk 256790
Membury Camp geograph.org.uk 256790

Membury Camp, or Membury Fort, is the site of an Iron Age hill fort located on the borders of Wiltshire and Berkshire, (the county line divides the site in two, although the majority of the site lies within Wiltshire). The site encompasses 14 hectares, and is situated in the south-western corner of a small plateau. The circular earthworks are completely shrouded in trees and inside the walls it is mostly arable farmland. To the northeast, in the Berkshire segment, the camp is totally wooded by a small copse, Walls Copse, which covers a quarter of the site. To the north and east the adjoining ground is flat, but to the south and west it falls away steeply, providing a natural defence. The camp consists of a single ditch with banks on either side and encloses and area measuring 390m by 490m. A gap in the east with inturning flanks is probably an original entrance though it is mutilated and overgrown. Other gaps in the banks appear to be more modern. A possible hut circle is visible as a cropmark situated at the south end of the hill fort. The east side of the earthwork has been partly destroyed by the construction of a wartime airfield, RAF Membury. The site has not been excavated but a number of prehistoric finds have been found in the vicinity. It is a scheduled ancient monument no. 228970 There have been several collections of pottery found, in 1977, 1980 and 1987 Other significant finds have also included for flint artefacts from the mesolithic era, and flint tools from the neolithic era, prior to the Iron Age.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Membury Camp (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 51.4763 ° E -1.5665 °
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Address

Membury Airfield

M4
RG17 7TZ
England, United Kingdom
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Membury Camp geograph.org.uk 256790
Membury Camp geograph.org.uk 256790
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Nearby Places

Membury transmitting station
Membury transmitting station

The Membury transmitting station is a broadcasting and telecommunications facility, situated adjacent to the M4 motorway at the Membury services in the south-west corner of the parish of Lambourn close to the town of Hungerford, in Berkshire. It is owned and operated by Arqiva. It has a 152.4 m (500 ft) high guyed steel lattice mast. It was constructed by the ITA in 1965 to bring ITV signals (provided by ATV and ABC) to the "South Midlands", including Oxford, Swindon, Newbury and Marlborough on 405-line VHF, using Channel 12 (Band III). It was not used for any broadcast services for a decade after the closure of 405 line television in 1985. However, in 1995 a low power VHF FM filler for the four national BBC radio networks was added (at 125 watts, vertical polarisation only), improving reception along the M4 corridor between Newbury and Swindon. In January 2003, a DAB transmitter was added for the NOW Swindon & Wiltshire multiplex. The BBC added a signal for its national DAB services in 2009. The mast also hosts transmission equipment for numerous mobile telephone networks. The mast is a highly visible landmark and can be clearly seen from The Ridgeway, White Horse Hill and most of the Lambourn Downs, making it a useful reference point for hikers, ramblers, and aircraft following visual flight rules. The red safety lights which mark the structure at night become visible for eastbound M4 motorists from as early as Swindon East (Junction 15), and for those travelling Westbound on the M4, it is visible as early as Junction 13 and Chieveley Services.