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Denbury Hill (also known as Denbury Camp) is the name of an Whoever delves in Denbury Down
Is sure to find a golden crown. (JSTOR subscription required for online access)
And this one was mentioned by William Crossing in 1911:
If Denbury Down the level were,
England might plough with golden share.
Denbury Hill (also known as Denbury Camp) is the name of an Iron Age
The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...
hill fort
A hillfort is a type of earthwork used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze Age or Iron Age. Some were used in the post-Roma ...
near the village of Denbury
Denbury is a village in Teignbridge district of Devon, England. The village is situated between Totnes and Newton Abbot, approximately ten miles from Torquay.
Denbury Hill (Locally known as Denbury Down) is an Iron Age Hill fort which is loc ...
in Devon
Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...
, England.
The fort is less than a kilometre south west of the village, 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.
The name ''Denbury'' means ''burh
A burh () or burg was an Old English fortification or fortified settlement. In the 9th century, raids and invasions by Vikings prompted Alfred the Great to develop a network of burhs and roads to use against such attackers. Some were new constru ...
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. We do not know which because it has not been excavated.
According to legend, in common with similar locations, a great deal of gold is reputedly buried beneath the site. Theo Brown
Theo Brown (16 December 1914 – 3 February 1993) was a British scholar of Devon folklore. She was lecturer in Comparative Religion at Exeter University.
Biography
Theo Brown was born Jean Marion Pryce in London. Her mother died in childbirth. H ...
cited this couplet:
Notes
References
{{Devon Hill forts in Devon