At 176 metres (577 ft) above sea level, Chisbury hillfort is the highest point in Little Bedwyn parish[1] and encloses an area of about 14 acres (5.7 ha).[2] Palaeolithic, Neolithic and Bronze Age artefacts have been found in the area, but the hillfort was most probably built in the late Iron Age in the 1st century AD.[1] There may be a link with the 7th-century West Saxon nobleman Cissa.[3] The hillfort was re-used in the Anglo-Saxon times as a burh, cited as Cyssanbyrig in the Burghal Hidage document which lists the fortifications of Wessex in the later part of the 9th century, although Julian Orbach cautions that this may be a misreading for Tisbury.[4]
St. Martin's chapel, on the eastern edge of the hillfort, seems to have been built in the early part of the 13th century.[1] After the middle of the 16th century the building lapsed from use for worship and was turned into a barn.[1] It was re-roofed in the 19th century but in 1998 its condition was semi-ruinous.[1] The hillfort and chapel were designated as a scheduled ancient monument in 1925.[5]
Chisbury Manor farmhouse, also within the hillfort site, is a two-storey brick building from the mid 18th century.[6]
Knowle Farm, about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) northwest of Chisbury, has a 14th-century chapel[1] which is now an outbuilding of the farmhouse.[1] A blocked ogee-headed north window and the surround of the east window are the only surviving features.[7] The farmhouse is a brick-built Georgian house of five bays dated 1735.[7]
Aston, Michael; Bond, James (1976). The Landscape of Towns. Archaeology in the Field Series. London: J.M. Dent & Sons Ltd. pp. 59, 60. ISBN0-460-04194-0.
