Buzbury Rings

Buzbury Rings is an Iron Age fortified settlement comprising two concentric ring earthworks on a downland ridge. The inner rampart encloses roughly 3 acres while the outer defensive line protects a substantially larger area.

The site was first established during the Neolithic period before being substantially rebuilt during the Iron Age. Roman finds suggest the fortification remained occupied even after the conquest of Britain.

The fortification forms part of an ancient network connecting the River Stour to Cranborne Chase through a Neolithic causeway system.

The site is freely accessible but a modern road cuts through it and a golf course occupies the northeastern section. Visitors should be aware that much of the original layout has been altered by contemporary land use.

Geophysical surveys from 2006 revealed a D-shaped Neolithic enclosure buried beneath the later Iron Age ramparts. This earliest building phase demonstrates the hill served as a fortified place thousands of years before the visible earthworks were constructed.