ARCHAELOGISTS from universities all over the country have returned to Nescliffe Hill this summer and the site has generated more finds of national importance.

Paul Reilly, a visiting fellow in archaeology at the University of Southampton, and Gary Lock, emeritus professor of archaeology at the University of Oxford, and their team have discovered evidence of iron workings, interior walls giving insight into the architecture of the hillfort and evidence of guard chambers.

Gary said: “We’ve got fantastic evidence in the big ditch for several furnaces – including the ceramic walls of furnaces; lots of charcoal which we can radiocarbon date, lots of slag which is the waste product of furnaces and bits of iron.

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“We’ve also found tuyères – the ceramic end of bellows. Iron Age furnaces were pretty crude and could only be used once, as they would have to break them open to get the iron out.

“We think they were down in the ditch as it was a sheltered spot and were probably making little handy tools.”

Carbon dating will provide the team with information regarding the chronological origin of the structures, specifically whether they belong to the early or middle Iron Age.

Additionally, it will reveal the types of tools and implements that were being manufactured during that period.

Furthermore, a trench excavated across the site unveiled the interior walls that comprised a section of the hillfort's defensive ramparts, shedding light on their construction techniques and composition.

Border Counties Advertizer: Nesscliffe Hillfort digNesscliffe Hillfort dig (Image: Shropshire Council)

Gary added:“That’s very, very unusual evidence. It’s quite rare to get anything in the interior of ramparts.”

Previous digs uncovered magnificent guard chambers near the fort entrance, which Gary described as “some of the best preserved in Britain”.

He added: “In summary, we’ve got three things which are of national importance.

“Evidence for iron working, the guard chambers – some of the best preserved in Britain, and internal evidence in the rampart.”

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Robert Macey, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for culture and digital added that more discoveries means experts will be able to shed more light onto local history.

He added: ““It is rewarding to hear our site is yielding so much information and well-preserved evidence of the lives lived on site, and I look forward to exploring funding opportunities to develop our interpretation and share the knowledge with visitors.”

If funding is secured the team will return for the final time next summer to explore another possible roundhouse site and dig deeper down to Iron Age levels.