Hardings Down West Fort is a sub-oval enclosure, c. 110m by 75m, set on a spur at the W end of Hardings Down, enclosed by a bank and ditch, an excavation in 1962 indicated that the bank had been reveted. Two further banks and ditches cut across the spur, without forming coherent circuits. The line of the outer ditch is continued by a slighter, possibly later bank with an internal ditch, and this and other banks and ditches to the NW of the main enclosure are thought to have been agricultural enclosures, linking in with modern field boundaries.

Three circular features are apparent internally, two having been excavated in 1962, as was the entrance to the NE.
The entrance appears to have faced downhill, as does that at the N camp (Nprn301322).

(source Os495card; SS49SW32)

J.Wiles 08.07.02

Aerial photographs taken in low morning light in 2002 reveal topography within the hillfort, including the sites of a number of house platforms.

RCAHMW neg. ref. 2002/5028-46.
T Driver 1/12/2003