The Ringmoor Settlement is an Iron Age

Iron Age

The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...

/Romano-British

Romano-British

Romano-British culture describes the culture that arose in Britain under the Roman Empire following the Roman conquest of AD 43 and the creation of the province of Britannia. It arose as a fusion of the imported Roman culture with that of the indigenous Britons, a people of Celtic language and...

 farming settlement in Dorset

Dorset

Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...

, to the north of Turnworth

Turnworth

Turnworth is a hamlet in north Dorset, England, situated on the Dorset Downs five miles west of Blandford Forum. The village consists of a few cottages and farmhouses scattered around a church and manor house. Nearby is Ringmoor, an ancient settlement on the top of the scarp face of the downs. ...

 and the south of Belchalwell

Belchalwell

Belchalwell is a village in the civil parish of Okeford Fitzpaine in the Blackmore Vale, North Dorset, and lies two and a half miles south of Sturminster Newton and six miles north-west of Blandford....

 in the Blackmore Vale

Blackmore Vale

The Blackmore Vale is a vale, or wide valley, in north Dorset, and to a lesser extent south Somerset and southwest Wiltshire in southern England. The vale is part of the Stour valley...

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The site is well preserved in unploughed downland

Downland

A downland is an area of open chalk hills. This term is especially used to describe the chalk countryside in southern England. Areas of downland are often referred to as Downs....

. An ancient trackway, the site of a farmstead and field systems are still clearly visible as banks in the grassland.

It is owned by the National Trust

National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty

The National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, usually known as the National Trust, is a conservation organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland...

, and is a Scheduled Ancient Monument

Scheduled Ancient Monument

In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a 'nationally important' archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorized change. The various pieces of legislation used for legally protecting heritage assets from damage and destruction are grouped under the term...

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Only limited archaeological research has been done on the site, and little is known about it. In the Iron Age, it was in the territory of the Durotriges

Durotriges

The Durotriges were one of the Celtic tribes living in Britain prior to the Roman invasion. The tribe lived in modern Dorset, south Wiltshire and south Somerset...

, along with nearby Hod Hill

Hod Hill

Hod Hill is a large hill fort in the Blackmore Vale, north-west of Blandford Forum, Dorset, England. The fort sits on a chalk hill that is detached from the Dorset Downs and Cranborne Chase. The hill fort at Hambledon Hill is just to the north.The fort is roughly rectangular , with an enclosed...

 and Hambledon Hill

Hambledon Hill

Hambledon Hill is a prehistoric hill fort in Dorset, England, situated in the Blackmore Vale five miles north of Blandford Forum. The hill is a Chalk outcrop, on the south western corner of Cranborne Chase, separated from the Dorset Downs by the River Stour....

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