Embury Beacon is the site 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 ...

promontory fort A promontory fort is a defensive structure located above a steep cliff, often only connected to the mainland by a small neck of land, thus using the topography to reduce the ramparts needed. Although their dating is problematic, most seem to da ...

on the west of the Hartland Peninsula, north of Bude and west of Clovelly, in north

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 ...

. The fort has almost entirely been lost to

coastal erosion Coastal erosion is the loss or displacement of land, or the long-term removal of sediment and rocks along the coastline due to the action of waves, currents, tides, wind-driven water, waterborne ice, or other impacts of storms. The landward ...

, but a fraction of the eastern ramparts still exist at approximately above Sea Level. It is part of the

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

property of Bideford Bay and Hartland, which also includes two other hill forts at

Windbury Head Windbury Head is the site of an Iron Age hill fort on the Hartland Peninsula, just north of Clovelly in North Devon, England. Most of the fort has been lost to coastal erosion Coastal erosion is the loss or displacement of land, or the lon ...

and Bucks Mills earthworks. The site’s name suggests it was the location of a beacon, possibly during the

Elizabethan period The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The symbol of Britannia (a female personific ...

, but there is no archaeological evidence of this.

Description

The fort consists of two earthwork ramparts which create a triangular enclosed area with cliffs on its north and west sides. The earthworks were built on a summit and the surviving inland slopes both descend towards the south. At the time of construction, the area around the site would have been a mix of woodland and open landscape with heath and grassland. The outer ramparts are a maximum of in length and high. Where the outer ditch survives unaffected by ploughing it is deep. As measured from the bottom of the ditch, the outer rampart is tall. An entrance gap splits the outer ramparts into a western and eastern section. It is highly unlikely that the two sections were ever connected. The western end of the rampart, formed of a bank and external ditch, is the longest surviving section of the rampart. A gap in this section is believed to date from the

medieval period In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

, possibly having been made to allow access to the enclosure for grazing sheep. The eastern rampart, formed of a linear north-south bank and external ditch, is less uniform than its western counterpart, which may be the result of weathering or a change in the layout of the earthworks during the Iron Age. The outer enclosure is an average of wide and featureless except for a low, linear bank long and high. The inner rampart has a maximum length of and height of , and only survives on the cliff edge. Its v-shaped ditch is deep and wide. Flints found within and between the ramparts have been dated to the

late Neolithic In the archaeology of Southwest Asia, the Late Neolithic, also known as the Ceramic Neolithic or Pottery Neolithic, is the final part of the Neolithic period, following on from the Pre-Pottery Neolithic and preceding the Chalcolithic. It is some ...

or early Bronze Age. The fort has a 6m wide entrance at the north eastern end of the site which is enclosed by an outwork rampart. This outwork consists of a rampart high with an associated ditch deep which has been damaged by ploughing. The outwork would have provided a barrier preventing easy access to the entrance. Construction of the outwork around the entrance may have taken place during the late Iron Age, and the ditch is believed to have been infilled during the mid to late

Roman period The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Roman Republic, Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings aro ...

. A possible circular feature in the north east of the site has been suggested to be a

barrow Barrow may refer to: Places England * Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria ** Borough of Barrow-in-Furness, local authority encompassing the wider area ** Barrow and Furness (UK Parliament constituency) * Barrow, Cheshire * Barrow, Gloucestershire * Barro ...

. This possible barrow is a mound long, wide and high. It has been suggested as the location of a beacon, however excavations in 1973 interpreted the mound as being part of a rampart and ditch. The remains of the earthworks suggest that Embury Beacon was once a much larger hill fort. Much of the fort’s ramparts have been lost to coastal erosion over thousands of years, meaning that little is known of the original size and shape of the enclosed area. Only a small section of the inner enclosure and part of the outer ramparts still survives. Historical maps and aerial photography show little more than what survives today. It is estimated that only one quarter of the site is left, the rest having been lost to coastal erosion. The north west cliff face is believed to have receded by a maximum of in the last ninety years, based on evidence from historical maps. Since the 1970s excavations the final surviving parts of the inner enclosure have been lost. In July 1995 most of the area within the inner rampart was lost. At the time the fort was built there may not have been an outcrop on the cliffs, and the coast may have experienced such a large degree of erosion that this site may once have been a headland large enough to accommodate a large multiple enclosure fort. Based on this, it has been suggested that the site may not represent a

, but that it is instead a

contour fort Hillforts in Britain refers to the various hillforts within the island of Great Britain. Although the earliest such constructs fitting this description come from the Neolithic British Isles, with a few also dating to later Bronze Age Britain, Britis ...

Excavations

In 1972-3 the site was partially excavated by the Department of the Environment in response to the threat of erosion, and much of the areas excavated at that time have now been lost. These excavations did not include a complete section of the outer rampart or ditch, and did not examine the entrance area. Excavation of the enclosure found only a low fragment of wall footings, suggesting that the site was used for enclosing livestock rather than as a settlement. However, postholes found in the interior of the site suggested the presence of structures, and findings of pottery, slingstones, spindle whorls, and whetstones in the area enclosed by the inner rampart suggest a domestic function. Some of the pottery has been identified as Late Iron Age Glastonbary Ware. In 1997 The Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England conducted a large scale survey of Embury Beacon on behalf of the National Trust. This report suggested that the fort’s location means its role may have been maritime, possibly involving signalling, as well as defensive. It may have been used, or later reused, as a signal station giving rise to its name. Further excavations were carried out in 2012, including a magentometry survey which found no clear evidence of internal occupation of the fort. These excavations examined the potential barrow, finding that although it had been heavily affected by ploughing, it retains a core deep. Large, well spaced stones were found within, as well as a cremated deposit (which had been disturbed) and residual Bronze Age pottery. Although few pottery fragments were found, they have been dated to the early Bronze Age between 2000 and 1500 BC. Beach pebbles found throughout the site have been interpreted as slingstones, and the 2012 excavations found 40 potential slingstones: 22 in the entrance, 17 in the ditch, and 1 between the ramparts. A 3D model of the site has been created using aerial photographs taken by drone.

References

External links

Historic England National Heritage List entry

North Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty

Embury Beacon Interactive 3D model
{{Devon-geo-stub Hill forts in Devon

Description

Excavations

References

Further reading

External links