Hod Hill

Hod Hill (or Hodd Hill) is a large hill fort in the Blackmore Vale, 3 miles (5 km) north-west of Blandford Forum, Dorset, England. The fort sits on a 143 m (469 ft) chalk hill of the same name that lies between the adjacent Dorset Downs and Cranborne Chase. The hill fort at Hambledon Hill is just to the north.

The fort is roughly rectangular (600 by 400 m (2,000 by 1,300 ft)), with an enclosed area of 22 ha (54 acres). There is a steep natural slope down to the River Stour to the west, the other sides have an artificial rampart, ditch and counterscarp (outer bank), with an additional rampart on the north side. The main entrance is at the south-east corner, with other openings at the south-west and north-east corners.

The hillfort was inhabited by the Durotriges in the late Iron Age; whether this is the same tribe who fortified the hilltop in the middle Iron Age (radiocarbon analysis suggests a date of 500 BC for the main rampart) is unknown. There is extensive evidence of settlement within the fort, including platforms for roundhouses.