Denbury Hill

Last updated

A distant view of Denbury Hill Towards Denbury Down from Blackwell Cross - geograph.org.uk - 944739.jpg
A distant view of Denbury Hill
Earthworks on Denbury Hill Denbury Hill Fort - Earthworks - geograph.org.uk - 2350383.jpg
Earthworks on Denbury Hill

Denbury Hill (also known as Denbury Camp [1] and Denbury Down [2] ) is the name of an Iron Age hill fort near the village of Denbury in Devon, England.

The fort is less than a kilometre south west of the village, [3] occupying the entire hilltop of Denbury Down at 160 metres above sea level. It is surrounded on the south and east sides by high embankments. In the centre of the enclosure there are two large burial mounds. [4] [lower-alpha 1]

The name Denbury means burh of the men of Devon, and the hill fort was probably re-occupied some time after the Romans left England and before the Norman conquest: it may have been used by the British as a centre of resistance against the Saxons, or it may have been occupied by the Saxons themselves. [5] We do not know which because it has not been excavated.

According to legend, in common with similar locations, [lower-alpha 2] a great deal of gold is reputedly buried beneath the site. Theo Brown cited this couplet:

  Whoever delves in Denbury Down
  Is sure to find a golden crown. [6]

And this one was mentioned by William Crossing in 1911:

  If Denbury Down the level were,
  England might plough with golden share. [7]

Plan of Denbury Camp from Victoria County History of Devon, 1906. Plan of Denbury Camp from VCH Devon vol 1 (1906), p 589.png
Plan of Denbury Camp from Victoria County History of Devon, 1906.
An aerial view of Denbury Hillfort in Devon, England. Denbury Hillfort.jpg
An aerial view of Denbury Hillfort in Devon, England.
East-facing aerial view of Denbury Down in Devon, England. East-Facing View of Denbury Down.jpg
East-facing aerial view of Denbury Down in Devon, England.

Notes

  1. The camp was described in The Victoria County History of Devon (1906) as follows: [1] "The entrenchments encircling the crown of this lofty igneous rock enclose 9 acres 1 rood and 1 perch, and consist of an elliptical camp with an outer court on the west side. On the north a steep natural escarpment dispenses with the need for artificial works, and a low rampart only is found. On the south and east, however, the defences are very strong; the south, the most easy for assault, is provided with a fosse nearly 45 ft. on the slope of the escarpment, and 30 ft. perpendicular measurement, which is gradually reduced in depth as it approaches the courtyard. The entrance at the north-east corner is on the verge of the steep decline, and the southern side of it alone demanded the skill of the engineers. Here the outer vallum widens into a platform 160 ft. in length and 14 ft. above the ground level, while the inner vallum returns at a right angle into the camp. Between the two ramparts the fosse forms a sunken road through which the defenders could pour their reserves from the court on to the enemy at the gate, or pass their cattle without taking them through the camp. At the middle of the west side is an entrance between the camp and the court where the agger on either side slightly incurves. Within the central area are two large tumuli, or mounds."
  2. For instance Cadbury Castle and Dolbury. [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fosse Way</span> Roman road built in Britain around the 1st and 2nd centuries AD

The Fosse Way was a Roman road built in Britain during the first and second centuries AD that linked Isca Dumnoniorum (Exeter) in the southwest and Lindum Colonia (Lincoln) to the northeast, via Lindinis (Ilchester), Aquae Sulis (Bath), Corinium (Cirencester), and Ratae Corieltauvorum (Leicester).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chanctonbury Ring</span>

Chanctonbury Ring is a prehistoric hill fort atop Chanctonbury Hill on the South Downs, on the border of the civil parishes of Washington and Wiston in the English county of West Sussex. A ridgeway, now part of the South Downs Way, runs along the hill. It forms part of an ensemble of associated historical features created over a span of more than 2,000 years, including round barrows dating from the Bronze Age to the Saxon periods and dykes dating from the Iron Age and Roman periods.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wincobank (hill fort)</span>

Wincobank is an Iron Age hill fort near Wincobank in Sheffield, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vallum (Hadrian's Wall)</span>

The Vallum is a huge earthwork associated with Hadrian's Wall in England. Unique on any Roman frontier, it runs practically from coast to coast to the south of the wall.

Voley Castle is an Iron Age hill fort situated close to Parracombe in north Devon, England. The fort is situated on a promontory on the eastern side of Heale Down, approximately 230 metres (750 ft) above sea level. It is close to another Iron Age hill fort at Beacon Castle. Voley Castle is a slight univallate hillfort, a rare type of hill fort found mainly in Devon, and is unusual for its type because it has an outer earthwork.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Embury Beacon</span>

Embury Beacon is the site of an Iron Age promontory fort on the west of the Hartland Peninsula, north of Bude and west of Clovelly, in north Devon. The fort has almost entirely been lost to coastal erosion, but a fraction of the eastern ramparts still exist at approximately 150 metres (490 ft) above Sea Level. It is part of the National Trust property of Bideford Bay and Hartland, which also includes two other hill forts at Windbury Head and Bucks Mills earthworks. The site’s name suggests it was the location of a beacon, possibly during the Elizabethan period, but there is no archaeological evidence of this.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hembury Castle, Buckfast</span> Iron Age hill fort in Devon, England

Hembury Castle is an Iron Age hillfort about a mile north-west of the village of Buckfast on the south-eastern edge of Dartmoor in Devon, England. The fort is about 178 metres above sea level on a promontory between the River Dart on the east and the Holy Brook, south-west. The slope down to the River Dart is very steep and is covered by Hembury Woods which is now a Site of Special Scientific Interest.

Holmbury Hill is a wooded area of 261 metres (856 ft) above sea level in Surrey, England, and the site of an Iron Age-period hillfort. The Old Saxon word "holm" can be translated as hill and "bury" means fortified place. It sits along the undulating Greensand Ridge, its summit being 805 feet (245 m) from the elevated and tightly clustered small village of Holmbury St. Mary which was traditionally part of Shere, 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) away.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blewburton Hill</span> Hillfort in Oxfordshire, England

Blewburton Hill is the site of an Iron Age hillfort located in Oxfordshire, in the southeast of England. It was a univallate hillfort. The area is mostly farmland with some small areas of wooded copse to the south and the northeast. The hill fort may have been occupied from the 4th century BC to the 1st century BC, and replaced a small settlement surrounded by a stockade, which is estimated to have been built in the 5th or 6th century BC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Woolbury</span> Iron Age hillfort in Hampshire, England

Woolbury, or Woolbury Ring, is the site of an Iron Age univallate hill fort on Stockbridge Down, Hampshire, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scratchbury Camp</span> Iron Age hillfort in Wiltshire, England

Scratchbury Camp is the site of an Iron Age univallate hillfort on Scratchbury Hill, overlooking the Wylye valley about 1 km northeast of the village of Norton Bavant in Wiltshire, England. The fort covers an area of 37 acres (15 ha) and occupies the summit of the hill on the edge of Salisbury Plain, with its four-sided shape largely following the natural contours of the hill.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cholesbury Camp</span> Iron Age hillfort in Buckinghamshire, England

Cholesbury Camp is a large and well-preserved Iron Age hill fort on the northern edge of the village of Cholesbury in Buckinghamshire, England. It is roughly oval-shaped and covers an area, including ramparts, of 15 acres (6.1 ha), and measures approximately 310 m (1,020 ft) north-east to south-west by 230 m (750 ft) north-west to south-east. The interior is a fairly level plateau which has been in agricultural use since the medieval period. The hill fort is now a scheduled ancient monument.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bratton Castle</span> Iron Age hillfort in Wiltshire, England

Bratton Castle is a bivallate Iron Age built hill fort on Bratton Down, at the western edge of the Salisbury Plain escarpment. The hill fort comprises two circuits of ditch and bank which together enclose a pentagonal area of 9.3 hectares.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Limestone Corner</span>

Limestone Corner is an area of Hadrian's Wall at its most northerly point, in present-day northern England. It represents the most northerly point of the Roman Empire, outside the two periods during which the Antonine Wall was occupied by the Roman military. Other notable features at Limestone Corner are the wall ditch at this point, which was never completely excavated, a Roman camp and the site of Milecastle 30. Also present is a trig point. The B6318 Military Road also runs through Limestone Corner, as does the Military Way, serving Milecastle 30. The Military Way is visible on the ground at this point, the most eastern point where this is the case.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Promontory forts of Cornwall</span>

Cornish promontory forts, commonly known in Cornwall as cliff castles, are coastal equivalents of the hill forts and Cornish "rounds" found on Cornish hilltops and slopes. Similar coastal forts are found on the north–west European seaboard, in Normandy, Brittany and around the coastlines of the British Isles, especially in Wales, Scotland and Ireland. Many are known in southwest England, particularly in Cornwall and its neighbouring county, Devon. Two have been identified immediately west of Cornwall, in the Isles of Scilly.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dudsbury Camp</span>

Dudsbury Camp is one of a series of Iron Age earthworks in Dorset, starting from Hambledon Hill, and including Hod Hill, Spetisbury Rings, Buzbury Rings, Badbury Rings and Dudsbury Camp. The Iron Age port at Hengistbury Head forms a final Iron Age monument in this small chain of sites. The fort is located near the village of West Parley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Torberry Hill</span>

Torberry Hill is an Iron Age hillfort in the county of West Sussex, in southern England. It is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, with a list entry identification number of 1015966. The hill fort is located within the parish of Harting, within the South Downs National Park. The hill includes the remains of an Early Iron Age univallate hill fort, a Middle Iron Age promontory fort and a post-medieval post mill. The hill is a chalk spur projecting northwards from the South Downs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beacon Hill, West Sussex</span>

Beacon Hill, also known as Harting Beacon, is a hillfort on the South Downs, in the county of West Sussex in southern England. The hillfort is located in the parish of Elsted and Treyford, in Chichester District. It is a Scheduled Ancient Monument with a list entry identification number of 1015915. The hilltop enclosure is dated to the Late Bronze Age, from the 8th to 6th centuries BC. The hillfort defences were renewed during the Late Iron Age.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cadson Bury</span> Iron Age hillfort in Cornwall, England

Cadson Bury is an Iron Age hillfort about 2 miles (3.2 km) south-west of Callington, in Cornwall, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shipton Hill Settlement</span>

The Shipton Hill Settlement is an archaeological site, a defended settlement of the Iron Age, near Shipton Gorge in Dorset, England. It is a scheduled monument.

References

  1. 1 2 William Page, ed. (1906). The Victoria History of the County of Devon. Vol. 1. pp. 589–590.
  2. "Denbury Down | England | The Mountain Guide". The Mountain Guide.
  3. Ordnance Survey map OL44
  4. R. R. Sellman; Aspects of Devon History, Devon Books, 1985 ISBN   0-86114-756-1 - Chapter 2; The Iron Age in Devon. Map page 11 of Iron Age hill forts in Devon includes Denbury.
  5. Higham, Robert (1987). Security and Defence in South-west England before 1800. Exeter Studies in History. University of Exeter. p.  33. ISBN   0-85989-209-3.
  6. 1 2 Brown, Theo (1964). "The Folklore of Devon". Folklore. Taylor & Francis. Ltd. 75 (3): 147. (JSTOR subscription required for online access)
  7. Crossing, William (1911). "Buried Treasure". Folk Rhymes of Devon. Exeter: James G. Commin. p. 21.
50°30′N3°39′W / 50.500°N 3.650°W / 50.500; -3.650