ANCIENT EARTHWORKS 



vallum and fosse. The innermost vallum encloses an area, square with rounded angles, over 

 100 ft. in diameter ; it varies from four to six feet in height, the highest part being tow^ards the 

 coast. This is surrounded by a fosse 8 ft, deep, and a second vallum 6 ft. high, with another fosse 

 8 ft. below. A surrounding area, about sixty feet wide, is defended by a circular vallum 9 ft. high 

 on the south or land side, but only 6 ft. in height towards the sea, and a fosse 8 ft. deep. The 

 entrance to the outer court is on the south-west, but that leading into the inner camp is at the 

 north. Exactly in the centre of the camp is a small mound. 



Drewsteignton (O.S. Ixxviii, 15). — Prestonbury Castle, three miles north-west of Moreton 

 Hampstead, is one of a trio of camps above the River Teign. This ' castle,' high above the north 

 bank of the river, on Prestonbury Common, has a triple vallum enclosing three separate areas. 



The innermost camp, an irregular ellipse, measures 418 ft. on its long axis and 410 ft. on the 

 short axis, and includes somewhat more ground than the apex of the hill. It is surrounded by a 

 vallum 7 ft. 6 in. high, with two entrances at the ends of its long axis ; at the eastern one the 

 rampart widens on either side, but the other relies on thd difficult nature of the ground to ensure its 





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Prestonbury Castle, Drewsteignton. 



safety, while from that point along the southern side the vallum is on the verge of an almost perpen- 

 dicular descent of 1,000 ft. to the river. 



The second line of defence is also a vallum only, which forms a court on the east side, but 

 closes in on the shorter axis of the ellipse to within fifty feet of the inner camp. A simple entrance 

 is on the east, 267 ft. from the inner wall. 



The third vallum, only partially extant, is placed 450 ft. from the second, giving ample 

 accommodation to the cattle in time of need. The remaining portion of this rampart is very 

 strong : it has a fosse 20 ft. broad cut into the solid rock, facing level ground, which makes this the 

 most assailable side. At the entrance the agger returns inwards for the greater safety of the 

 besieged ; and it will be seen that the three successive entrances on this side are placed en echelon, 

 or obliquely to each other, so that one direct charge could not carry them all by assault. This outer 

 vallum divides into two lines on the southern slope as it approaches the precipitous part. 



This camp is overlooked by Cranbury Castle on the opposite bank of the river. 



High Bray (O.S. x, 8). — Shoulsbury Castle, by Lysons called Shorsbury, is on the boundary 

 of the parishes of High Bray and Challacombe, seven miles south of Lynton, on the border of 

 Somersetshire. 



595 



