Hembury Castle is 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 mostl ...

hillfort 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 ...

about a mile north-west of the village of Buckfast on the south-eastern edge of

Dartmoor Dartmoor is an upland area in southern Devon, England. The moorland and surrounding land has been protected by National Park status since 1951. Dartmoor National Park covers . The granite which forms the uplands dates from the Carboniferous P ...

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. Devo ...

, England (). The fort is about 178 metres above sea level on a promontory between the

River Dart The River Dart is a river in Devon, England, that rises high on Dartmoor and flows for to the sea at Dartmouth. Name Most hydronyms in England derive from the Brythonic language (from which the river's subsequent names ultimately derive fr ...

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. The fort is said to cover about seven acres and it is surrounded by a prominent rampart and ditch. It is one of several Iron Age forts on the eastern edge of Dartmoor, others include

Holne Chase Castle Holne Chase Castle is an Iron Age hill fort situated close to Buckland-in-the-Moor in Devon, England. The fort is situated on a promontory on the Northern slopes of Holne Chase in Chase Wood at approx 150 Metres above Sea Level overlooking the ...

Wooston Castle Wooston Castle is an Iron Age Hill fort situated on the edge of a hill overlooking the Teign Valley in Devon some 200 metres above sea level, only 3 km south and east of Prestonbury Castle and 5 km east of Cranbrook Castle Cranbrook ...

Cranbrook Castle Cranbrook Castle is an Iron Age Hill fort occupying a commanding hilltop just to the south of and overlooking the Teign valley in Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in Sout ...

and

Prestonbury Castle Prestonbury Castle is an Iron Age Hill fort on the north east edge of Dartmoor in Devon, England. Situated on a massive hilltop some 240 metres above sea level overlooking the Teign Valley, it is located near two other hill forts (Cranbrook Castl ...

. Inside the fort, on the western side, is an 11th- or 12th-century

motte A motte-and-bailey castle is a European fortification with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised area of ground called a motte, accompanied by a walled courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade. Relatively easy to ...

with a surrounding narrow

inner bailey The inner bailey or inner ward of a castle is the strongly fortified enclosure at the heart of a medieval castle.Friar, Stephen (2003). ''The Sutton Companion to Castles'', Sutton Publishing, Stroud, 2003, p. 22. It is protected by the outer w ...

. The ramparts of the earlier hillfort may have been used as the outer bailey of the castle. The entire site has legal protection as a

scheduled monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...

. The first documentary reference to Hembury Castle is in the 13th-century

cartulary A cartulary or chartulary (; Latin: ''cartularium'' or ''chartularium''), also called ''pancarta'' or ''codex diplomaticus'', is a medieval manuscript volume or roll (''rotulus'') containing transcriptions of original documents relating to the fo ...

of nearby

Buckfast Abbey Buckfast Abbey forms part of an active Benedictine monastery at Buckfast, near Buckfastleigh, Devon, England. Buckfast first became home to an abbey in 1018. The first Benedictine abbey was followed by a Savignac (later Cistercian) abbey cons ...

, where it is referred to as ''vetus castellum quod dicitur Hembire''. The name probably derives from

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th c ...

''hean byrig'', "at the high

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 constr ...

". 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.

References

External links

* {{Coord, 50.5018, -3.7978, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Hill forts in Devon