Hembury Castle, Buckfast
| Hembury Castle | |
|
Devon | |
|---|---|
 The motte inside Hembury Castle | |
| Type: | Hill fort |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SX72676803 |
| Location: | 50°29’53"N, 3°47’48"W |
| History | |
| Built Iron Age | |
| Information | |
Hembury Castle is an Iron Age hillfort about a mile north-west of the village of Buckfast on the south-eastern edge of Dartmoor in Devon. The fort is about 584 feet above sea level on a promontory between the River Dart on the east and the Holy Brook, south-west.[1]
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'.[2]
The fort is said to cover about seven acres and it is surrounded by a prominent rampart and ditch.[1] It is one of several Iron Age forts on the eastern edge of Dartmoor, others include Holne Chase Castle, Wooston Castle, Cranbrook Castle and Prestonbury Castle.[3]
Inside the fort, on the western side, is an 11th- or 12th-century motte with a surrounding narrow inner bailey. The ramparts of the earlier hillfort may have been used as the outer bailey of the castle.[4]
The entire site has legal protection as a scheduled monument.[5]
History and legend
The first documentary reference to Hembury Castle is in the 13th-century cartulary of nearby Buckfast Abbey, where it is referred to as vetus castellum quod dicitur Hembire. The name probably derives from Old English hean byrig, "[at the] high burh".[6]
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.[1]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Crossing, William (1976). Crossing's Guide to Dartmoor (Reprint of 1912 ed.). Newton Abbot: David & Charles. p. 350. ISBN 0-7153-4034-4.
- ↑ SSSI listing and designation for Hembury Woods
- ↑ Hemery, Eric (1982). Historic Dart. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. p. 58. ISBN 0-7153-8142-3.
- ↑ Nikolaus Pevsner: The Buildings of England: Devon, 1952; 1989 Penguin Books ISBN 978-0-300-09596-8page 227
- ↑ National Heritage List 1003859: Hembury Castle
- ↑ Gover, J. E. B. & Mawer, A. & Stenton, F.M.: 'Place-Names of Devon , Part 1' (English Place-Names Society, 1931), page 295
- Sellman, R.R.: 'Aspects of Devon History' (Devon Books, 1985) ISBN 0-86114-756-1. Chapter: "The Iron Age in Devon" (Map of Iron Age hill forts in Devon)