Hardwell Castle or Hardwell Camp is an Iron Age valley fort in the civil parish of Compton Beauchamp in Oxfordshire (previously Berkshire).
Position Like nearby Cherbury Camp, Hardwell Castle is not clearly in a strategic or easily defended position. It lies halfway down the scarp slope of the White Horse Hills and is tucked away in a curve, invisible from most angles. This particular positioning suggests its builders had a specialist purpose in mind, although exactly what that may have been remains a mystery.
Description According to Historic England's scheduling record, the fort encloses an area of roughly , using a combination of rampart banks, ditches and enhanced natural features. An 1872 travellers' handbook described the site's double vallum as in dimension (working out to ). It is 'multi-vallate', like Cherbury Camp.
Status The site is unexcavated and therefore very little is known about it. It is described as a promontory fort by Historic England, and has been a Scheduled Monument since 1958.
Location The site is at in the Vale of White Horse, very close to the small settlements of both Compton Beauchamp and Knighton, from Uffington and from the hilltop Uffington Castle.
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