There are over 80 hillforts in

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

dating from the

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 ...

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

and post-Roman periods, with most showing evidence of occupation and re-occupation by the Cornish

Cornovii The Cornovii is the name by which two, or three, tribes were known in Roman Britain. One tribe was in the area centred on present-day Shropshire, one was in Caithness in northernmost Scotland, and there was probably one in Cornwall. The name has ...

tribe. Two of the most impressive, at opposite ends of Cornwall, are Chûn Castle, near

Penzance Penzance ( ; kw, Pennsans) is a town, civil parish and port in the Penwith district of Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is the most westerly major town in Cornwall and is about west-southwest of Plymouth and west-southwest of London. Situated ...

and

Warbstow Bury Warbstow Bury is an Iron Age hillfort about west of the village of Warbstow, in Cornwall, England. It is a scheduled monument. Location and description The site is above sea level, on a hill at the heads of two tributaries of the River Ottery. ...

in North East Cornwall. Others can be found at Caer Bran,

Castle An Dinas Castle an Dinas is an Iron Age hillfort at the summit of Castle Downs near St Columb Major in Cornwall, UK () and is considered one of the most important hillforts in the southwest of Britain. It dates from around the 3rd to 2nd century BCE and ...

(

Goss Moor Goss Moor is a national nature reserve in Cornwall, England, south-west of Bodmin in the parishes of St Dennis, St Columb Major, Roche and St Enoder. It is the largest continuous mire complex in south-west Britain and consists of mainly pea ...

), Castle an Dinas (

), Castle Canyke,

Kelly Rounds Kelly Rounds, or Castle Killibury is an Iron Age hill fort in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated beside the A39 trunk road approximately two miles east of Wadebridge. The site is north of the village of St Mabyn, approximately 3 ...

Cadson Bury Cadson Bury is an Iron Age hillfort about south-west of Callington, in Cornwall, England. It is owned by the National Trust,

, Resugga Castle, Helsbury near Michaelstow, St Dennis, Gear fort, Lescudjack Hillfort,

Prideaux Castle Prideaux Castle is a multivallate Iron Age hillfort situated atop a 133 m (435 ft) high conical hill near the southern boundary of the parish of Luxulyan, Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is also sometimes referred to as ''Pridea ...

, and

Castle Dore Castle Dore is an Iron Age hill fort (ringfort) near Fowey in Cornwall, United Kingdom located at . It was probably occupied from the 5th or 4th centuries BC until the 1st century BC. It consists of two ditches surrounding a circular ar ...

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 ...

s or cliff top forts were also common in the Iron Age and examples of these are at Trevelgue near

Newquay Newquay ( ; kw, Tewynblustri) is a town on the north coast in Cornwall, in the south west of England. It is a civil parish, seaside resort, regional centre for aerospace industries, spaceport and a fishing port on the North Atlantic coast of ...

Maen Castle Maen Castle is an Iron Age promontory fort or 'cliff castle' close to Land's End in Cornwall. It is one of only two fortified sites in Cornwall where Early Iron Age pottery has been found. Excavations took place in 1939 and 1948-9 and about 3 ...

near

Sennen Sennen (''Cornish: Sen Senan'' or ''Sen Senana'') is a coastal civil parish and a village in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. Sennen village is situated approximately eight miles (13 km) west-southwest of Penzance.Ordnance Survey: Landra ...

, St Michael's at

Rame Head Rame Head or Ram Head ( kw, Penn an Hordh) is a coastal headland, southwest of the village of Rame, Maker-with-Rame, Rame in southeast Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is part of the larger Rame Peninsula. History and antiquities The natural ...

Dodman Point Dodman Point (Cornish: Penn Den Varow) near Mevagissey is the highest headland on the south Cornwall coast, measuring . It is also known by its earlier names of the Deadman and Deadman's Point. It hosts the remains of an Iron Age promontory f ...

(near

Gorran Haven Gorran Haven () is a fishing village, in the civil parish of St Goran, on the south coast of Cornwall, England, UK. It is about south of Mevagissey and lies within the Cornwall Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). Overview The villag ...

Treryn Dinas Treryn Dinas is a headland near Treen, on the Penwith peninsula between Penberth Cove and Porthcurno in Cornwall, England. It is a scheduled monument, and is owned by the National Trust. It is the site of a promontory fort dated to the Iro ...

(site of

Logan Rock The Logan Rock ( kw, Men Omborth, meaning ''balanced stone'') near the village of Treen in Cornwall, England, UK, is an example of a logan or rocking stone. Although it weighs some 80 tons, it was dislodged in 1824 by a group of British seamen, ...

), Trereen Dinas (

Gurnard's Head Gurnard's Head ( kw, Ynyal, meaning ''desolate one''; ) is a prominent headland on the north coast of the Penwith peninsula in Cornwall, England, UK. The name is supposed to reflect that the rocky peninsula resembles the head of the gurnard fis ...

) and

The Rumps The Rumps ( kw, Din Pentir, meaning ''fort at Pentire'') () is a twin-headland promontory at the north-east corner of Pentire Head in north Cornwall, United Kingdom. The promontory is formed from hard basaltic rock (see also Geology of Cornw ...

(near

St Minver St Minver ( kw, Sen Menvra) is the name of an ecclesiastical parish, a civil parish and a village in north Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The civil parish of St Minver is in Bodmin Registration District and is nominally divided into St Min ...

). Payton, Philip (1996) ''A History of Cornwall''

Modern forts

In Tudor times the coastal defences were strengthened (as by

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...

at St Mawes) and also at the time when a Spanish invasion was expected in the 1580s.

Polruan Polruan ( kw, Porthruwan) is a coastal village in the parish of Lanteglos-by-Fowey in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is bounded on three sides by water: to the north by Pont Creek, to the west by the River Fowey and to the south by the ...

also has a

blockhouse A blockhouse is a small fortification, usually consisting of one or more rooms with loopholes, allowing its defenders to fire in various directions. It is usually an isolated fort in the form of a single building, serving as a defensive stro ...

fortification that guards the entrance to the river Fowey, one of a pair — its partner being situated on the Fowey side of the river. Between the two blockhouses was strung a defensive chain to prevent enemy ships entering the harbour, the chain being lowered for friendly vessels. This was primarily used during the wars with the Dutch. Many Napoleonic

forts A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

were built during the

Napoleonic War The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

South East Cornwall South East Cornwall is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Sheryll Murray, a Conservative. Boundaries 1983–2010: The District of Caradon, the Borough of Restormel wards of Fowey, Lostwit ...

to protect

Plymouth Sound Plymouth Sound, or locally just The Sound, is a deep inlet or sound in the English Channel near Plymouth in England. Description Its southwest and southeast corners are Penlee Point in Cornwall and Wembury Point in Devon, a distance of abo ...

and Plymouth's docks in

Devonport, Devon Devonport ( ), formerly named Plymouth Dock or just Dock, is a district of Plymouth in the English county of Devon, although it was, at one time, the more important settlement. It became a county borough in 1889. Devonport was originally one o ...

from attack: some are still in use today by the

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

References

*Pevsner, N. (1970) Cornwall, 2nd ed. Penguin Books; pp. 28–29 (Prehistory, by Derek Simpson)

Modern forts

References

See also