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 (grid reference SX726684 ). 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. [1] 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. [2]
The fort is said to cover about seven acres and it is surrounded by a prominent rampart and ditch. [1] It is one of several Iron Age forts on the eastern edge of Dartmoor, others include Holne Chase Castle, Wooston Castle, Cranbrook Castle and Prestonbury Castle. [3] Inside the fort, on the western side, is an 11th- or 12th-century motte with a surrounding narrow inner bailey. The ramparts of the earlier hillfort may have been used as the outer bailey of the castle. [4] The entire site has legal protection as a scheduled monument. [5]
The first documentary reference to Hembury Castle is in the 13th-century cartulary of nearby Buckfast Abbey, where it is referred to as vetus castellum quod dicitur Hembire. The name probably derives from Old English hean byrig, "at the high burh". [6]
A legend relates that the fort was held by the Danes, but it was taken from them by a stratagem. Some local women allowed themselves to be captured by the Danes and taken into the fort, but in the night when their captors were in a drunken sleep, the women rose, killed them and let in their countrymen. [1]