Badbury Ring's archaeology and wildlife benefit from grant

Project

Work to repair the scars on the ramparts at Badbury Rings in Dorset — Work gets underway to repair the scars on the ramparts at Badbury Rings

Badbury Rings is one of 13 majestic Iron Age hillforts across the Dorset and Wiltshire landscape to be given a new lease of life as part of a generous award of £800k made to the National Trust by Postcode Earth Trust, raised by players of People’s Postcode Lottery.

The £119k Wessex Hillforts and Habitats project will help protect all 13 Scheduled Monuments, dating from over 2,000 years ago, which are of national importance not just for their archaeology, but for their diverse fragile habitats which are homes to threatened butterfly species including the small Duke of Burgundy and the orange, yellow and brown chequered marsh fritillary.

Early purple orchid

The early purple orchid flowers in May and June at Badbury Rings. In total Badbury is home to 17 species of wild orchid.

Grizzled skipper butterfly

The grizzled skipper butterfly is becoming increasingly rare but is found at Badbury Rings.

Common lizard

Also known as the 'viviparous lizard', the common lizard is unusual among reptiles as it incubates its eggs inside its body and 'gives birth' to live young rather than laying eggs.

Rich in history, flora and fauna, the rings at Badbury sit 100 metres above sea level and offer sweeping views across Dorset. There is evidence of Bronze Age, Iron Age and Roman occupation at Badbury. However, the site is known mostly for its Iron Age hill fort with its three rings. It is thought the inner most ring dates from around 500 -600 BC.

The National Trust acquired Badbury Rings as part of the Bankes Estate in 1982. Since then, a programme of careful management has preserved the rings and enabled centuries-old wildlife and plant life to flourish. Today Badbury Rings remains a favourite spot for nature lovers and walkers but there is more we need to do to improve its condition.

What have we done at Badbury?

Over the summer of 2019, we carried out work to repair the erosion that had taken place to the paths and ramparts at Badbury. Scars on the ramparts are caused by a number of factors including livestock, rabbits, weather and heavy human footfall. The repair to one of the biggest scars on Badbury included it being cut back and refilled in a brick like stacking system using degradable hessian filled sacks with locally sourced archaeological kibbled chalk. After the backfilling and compaction of the sacks to recreate the profile of the rampart, the scar was covered with spoil from locally sourced molehills from inside the site and covered by turf taken from the bottom of the rampart ditches. This will help to encourage the grasses and herbs germinate to help complete the repair in the long term. The turf was then covered with a heavy gauge rabbit netting to prevent any further damage by rabbits or livestock.

Throughout the autumn the Ranger team undertook some scrub maintenance to help preserve the archaeology of the site, protecting it from root damage, whilst leaving a mosaic of habitats for nature such as the endangered Dingy and Grizzled Skipper butterflies which thrive in good numbers at Badbury.

Longer term we hope to improve the information about the significance of the landscape at Badbury Rings that is available to visitors and to recruit a team of volunteers to help us manage the land over the coming years.

" Although the livestock have played their part in the erosion at Badbury they are an extremely important tool for conservation. The livestock’s key role is to control the more aggressive species of plant that dominate large areas, helping to prevent scrub encroachment. This is a more sensitive approach than cutting and burning the scrub using machinery. The work we are doing to the eroded areas will ensure that the landscape can still benefit from the conservation style grazing that the livestock provide whilst protecting the integrity of the landscape."

Other hillforts will benefit too

The other Dorset hillforts to benefit from the grant include Hambledon Hill, Lambert’s Castle, Coney’s Castle, Pilsdon Pen, Lewesden Hill and Eggardon Hill. In Wiltshire Cley Hill, Figsbury Ring, Whitesheet Hill and Parkhill camp will also benefit. Some 332 hectares of priority habitat will be in better condition as a result of this generous award.

If you are interested in getting involved please contact Marie McLeish, project manager, marie.mcleish@nationaltrust.org.uk.

The remaining £700k awarded by Postcode Earth Trust and raised by players of People’s Postcode Lottery, will support the National Trust’s wider ambition to restore a healthy, beautiful more natural environment. Conservation projects include wildflower meadow and apple orchard restoration at the Brockhampton Estate in Herefordshire and the Trust’s national Riverlands programme, including on the River Bure in Norfolk.

Latest updates

26 Sep 19

Covering with soil and turf

The rangers team have been covering the scar with soil from locally sourced molehills and covered this with turf taken from the bottom of the rampart ditches. This will encourage the grasses and herbs to germinate without contaminating the seedbed and help complete the repair in the long term. The turf will then be covered with a heavy gauge rabbit netting to prevent any damage by rabbits or livestock.

25 Sep 19

Tamping down the chalk

Rangers have been tamping down the hand-filled bags of chalk into the largest of the scars at Badbury.

23 Sep 19

Rangers and volunteers hand fill over 150 bags of chalk

Rangers and volunteers have been hand filling over 150 hessian bags full of chalk to repair the largest scar on the ramparts.

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