Taplow

Finds from an excavation conducted on Taplow Hillfort in 1999 included sherds of prehistoric pottery, Roman sherds and Saxon pottery and a double headed spiral pin in the upper fills.

Finds from the dark soil included a late Bronze Age cylindrical loomweight, a saddle quern and much later Bronze Age and early Iron Age pottery.

From an arc of postholes came a bronze bracelet of Ewart Park type dated to the 10th century.

Analysis of silt within the ditch gave a date of 900 to 605 BC and indicates a period of disuse.

The abandoned hillfort was re-occupied in the early Saxon period, probably late in the 6th century AD or early in the 7th, at roughly the same time as the rich burial was made in the nearby Taplow Mound.

No evidence for reconstruction of the hillfort was found but considerable quantities of domestic material were deposited within the surviving Iron Age hillfort ditches. Amongst the domestic debris were indications of the presence of individuals of high status. In particular, a sherd probably from an eastern Mediterranean amphora was found. A fragmentary early Saxon inhumation associated with a knife was found in the entrance to the hillfort.

Partly due to disturbance from modern development and footpaths, the full extent and size of the hillfort remains unclear.

Facilities & accessibility

No public access.