Burrough Hill

at Flag Fen near Peterborough may represent how the roundhouses at Burrough Hill appeared. The hillfort stands on an ironstone promontory around above sea level, south of the modern settlement of Melton Mowbray. shaped during prehistoric ice ages. The bedrock is marlstone, limestone containing iron. Although the rock contains iron, the levels are low and little attempt was made to extract it. The iron gives the limestone a distinctive hue, ranging from orange to light brown as the proportion of iron changes across the site. Surrounded by a single ditch and rampart, the hillfort is trapezoidal in shape and covers an area of around . The ramparts, constructed from stone and earth, stand above the interior of the hillfort and would originally have been higher. There is also a counterscarp beyond the northern rampart. An extended entrance, as seen at Burrough Hill, was a common theme in hillfort design and served to increase the time it took to enter. There may have been a second entrance in the south-west of the site. Later activity on the site has caused breaks in the ramparts, but the remains generally survive well. There are signs of post-medieval quarrying outside the main entrance to the fort. Outside the hillfort were more curved anomalies, suggesting roundhouses in a settlement beyond the ramparts. It was surrounded by a ditch. ==History==

Burrough Hill is the best example of a univallate hillfort (surrounded by a single ditch and rampart) in Leicestershire. The subsequent development of the hillfort is unclear. As yet it is uncertain whether the settlement outside the hillfort was contemporary with the occupation of the hillfort or represent a different phase of activity on the site. Towards the end of the Iron Age, the fort gradually degraded. A layer of refuse bears testament to this and contains Roman pottery. It is likely the site was still in use between the 1st and 4th centuries AD, at which point Britain was under Roman control. During the Roman period, habitation was focused in the northern part of the fort. cut through by archaeological excavations. The soil is orange/brown. In the medieval period, the interior of the hillfort along with the surrounding area was farmed; traces of ridge and furrow still mark where the fields were ploughed. As well as being used agriculturally, locals used the hill to hold a fair. According to 16th-century antiquarian John Leland, on Whit Mondays the hill was used for social events such as dancing and games. The hill was used as farmland until the 17th century when the parish was enclosed. In the 19th century, Burrough Hill was used by the Melton Hunt for steeple-chasing. Despite multiple excavations, the results have generally been poorly published and as a result the hillfort remains little understood. In 2010 a five-year excavation began on the site, carried out by the University of Leicester School of Archaeology & Ancient History with the University of Leicester Archaeological Services (ULAS). According to Dr Patrick Clay research in the 1990s and 2000s on farmsteads and undefended settlements had revealed much about Iron Age Leicestershire, however the role of hillforts in the county was less clear. The excavations aimed to address the issue of the purpose of hillforts in the region, and also acted as a training dig for students at the university. Assessing the progress of the excavations after the first three years of excavations, John Thomas who was in charge of the project remarked ==See also==