Blewburton Hill
Lynchets on the west side of Blewburton Hill, Oxfordshire
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 Shown within Oxfordshire
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| Location | Oxfordshire |
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| Coordinates | 51°34′19″N 1°12′43″W / 51.572°N 1.212°WCoordinates: 51°34′19″N 1°12′43″W / 51.572°N 1.212°W |
| History | |
| Periods | Iron Age |
| Site notes | |
| Excavation dates | 1947-49 & 1967 |
| Public access | Yes (western part) |
Blewburton Hill is the site of an Iron Age hillfort located in Oxfordshire, in the southeast of England. It was a univallate hillfort (with a single rampart). The area is mostly farmland with some small areas of wooded copse to the south and the northeast. The hill fort may have been occupied from the 4th century BC to the 1st century BC, and replaced a small settlement surrounded by a stockade, which is estimated to have been built in the 5th or 6th century BC.
The hill demonstrates three principal phases, with the first consisting of a timber palisade surrounding a small settlement consisting of a few huts, dating to about 550 BC. This was later replaced in the 4th century BC by the first version of the hillfort, which covered twice the area as that included within the earlier palisade, with a single rampart and shallow ditch. After a period of abandonment, the hillfort was refortified around 100 BC, and the ditch was deepened. The fort was finally abandoned about 50 BC, with some evidence for a violent end to its occupation. During the early Anglo-Saxon period, the hilltop was used as a cemetery.
The west side of the hill features a number of lynchets (terraces), the age and function of which are unknown, although they are believed to post-date the Iron Age.
Blewburton Hill is situated between the villages of Aston Tirrold and Blewbury. The site is within the parish of Aston Upthorpe in the district of South Oxfordshire. Its coordinates are grid reference SU546861.
The hillfort encloses an area of approximately 4 hectares (430,000 sq ft). There was an 11-metre (36 ft) wide entrance on the west side of the fort, which may have possessed an overhead walkway. The gateway was protected by a ditch behind it, although this was later filled in. Unusually, a number of horse burials were found within the entrance. The gateway appears to have been set back within an approaching corridor between the rampart. During the second phase of the fort, excavated postholes demonstrate that it possessed a double gate.
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