WIP · World in Pocket

Loughton Camp

Loughton, GB

Loughton Camp

Loughton Camp is an Iron Age (~500 BC) Hill fort in Epping Forest, one mile (1.6 km) northwest of the town of Loughton. It lies "about two miles south-west" of Ambresbury Banks. and south-west of the town of Epping, Essex. It is a Scheduled Monument. Its surrounding forest is a Special Area of Conse

rvation and Site of Special Scientific Interest. The camp's earthworks cover an area of approximately 10 acres (4 hectares) and are visible today as a low bank and ditch encircling the main camp. The banks were most probably once a single high rampart, used for defence and the appearance of the ditch suggests it was once very wide and deep in places. The camp lies on one of the highest points in the surrounding area, on a ridge of high ground, likely to have once been strategic. It is speculated that the camp was used by the Trinovantes in defence against the Catuvellauni. Its elevation suggests that the camp was possibly once a lookout post. However, it may have simply been used as fortification for protection of cattle. A stone Iron Age grain millstone (quern) was found close by. Local legend has it that Boudica used the camp, and that Ambresbury Banks was the site of her defeat in AD61...

Listen to the audio guide for Loughton Camp Free on WIP — starts by itself when you arrive, even with the screen off

Nearby