The founding of the group was initiated in 1965 by A.H.A. Hogg with the object of encouraging the study and exchange of information relating to hillforts. The first meeting of a small group of archaeologists took place in London on 22 October at the Instittue of Archaeology. Founder members also included Lady Aileen Fox, Nicholas Thomas, Stan Stanford, David Peacock, Peter Gelling, Christopher Hawkes, J. Forde-Johnston, Peter Fowler and R. Feachem. The first field meeting in 1966 was based at Dorchester, Dorset at the end of April 1966 with the introductory lecture given by Peter Fowler follwed by visits to hillforts in the area, including Hambledon Hill, Hod Hill and Cadbury Castle.
The group currently has about eighty members composed of those who have been actively engaged in the study of hillforts and related structures, whether by excavation, fieldwork or research. The group is affiliated to the Council for British Archaeology.
The group meets twice a year. The A.G.M. is held in Oxford in November and is followed by a number of lectures on recent research or fieldwork on hillforts, mostly in Britain, but occasionally on sites from other areas of the world.
A spring field meeting is held usually a weekend in late April, when the group visits hillforts in a selected locality, guided by an archaeologist with personal knowledge of the local sites. The weekend normally starts with a formal meeting to discuss any group business followed by a talk about the hillforts to be visited by the archaeologist, who will lead the field trips. Since the first field meeting in 1966 at Dorchester, Dorset, the group has visited all parts of the British Isles, as well as other countries of Europe.
The archives of the group are curated at the Institute of Archaeology. Information about the archive can be found at
the groups archive page hosted by the University of Oxford School of Archaeolgy.
Members on a recent field trip
at the site of Cherbury Camp, Berkshire
