Raddon Top is the highest point of the Raddon Hills, a small ridge of hills in the
Shobrooke
Shobrooke is a village, parish and former manor in Devon, England. The village is situated about 1 1/2 miles north-east of Crediton. It is located close to Shobrooke park. The river Shobrooke Lake flows through the village. It had a populatio ...
area of
Mid Devon. The summit is at some 235 metres above
sea level
Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardise ...
, making it a significant feature in the surrounding countryside.
There is an unclassified road that traverses the hill which is the main route from the village of
Cheriton Fitzpaine
Cheriton Fitzpaine is a village in Devon, England, located 4 miles (7 km) north-east of Crediton. The population of the parish in the 2011 Census was 556.
The village is noted for its historic buildings, including the old Primary School, ...
to
Exeter.
There were
earthworks on the summit, but by the 16th century these had almost been ploughed away. Archaeological excavations in 1994 revealed remains of an
Early 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 ...
palisaded enclosure and 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 ...
with timber ramparts. The same excavations also uncovered a much earlier
Neolithic
The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several p ...
causewayed enclosure
A causewayed enclosure is a type of large prehistoric earthwork common to the early Neolithic in Europe. It is an enclosure marked out by ditches and banks, with a number of causeways crossing the ditches. More than 100 examples are recorded i ...
.
References
Hill forts in Devon
Hills of Devon
Causewayed enclosures
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