A HISTORY OF DEVONSHIRE 





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west side of the last curve a rampart and ditch extend 86 ft. to the left. Three hundred feet in 

 advance an agger 240 ft. long provides an outwork on the top of the hill. 



Wooston Castle is differently arranged from any other camp in Devonshire, and its features 



show a well-considered stra- 

 C tegical plan. 



NORTHCOTT (O.S. Ixxiv, 



9, 1 0, 13, 1 4). — This border 

 camp of the Dumnonii ap- 

 pears to have been a very 

 strong defence against the 

 raids of the Carnabii. It is 

 6 miles north-west of Lifton 

 Station ; but it requires the 

 help of the courteous farmer 

 on whose land it lies to lo- 

 cate it. 



Situated on the slope of 

 a hill on the east side of the 

 Tamar, where that river 

 makes a course around a 

 small island, the camp de- 

 pended largely on the steep- 

 ness of the bank to guard 

 against surprise, additional 

 strength being gained by a 

 stream which flows at the 

 foot of the hill. 



The inner stronghold 

 is oval, surrounded by a small 

 bank above the escarpment, 

 and a fosse 15 ft. deep and 

 28 ft. wide at the south. 

 The counterscarp is sur- 

 mounted by a bank 3 ft. high, beyond which is a level area with another bank, and fosse 5 ft. 6 in. 

 deep before the hill descends to the river. The level area widens as it passes round the north to 

 the east side, where it provides an ample court defended by a rampart which originally extended 

 to the river-bank. The southern part, however, is destroyed. The north-east court wall is 

 defended by a ditch as it faces the rising ground, and an entrance on this side led into another court. 



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SCALE or rEET 

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Blackbury Castle, Southleigh. 



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Cranmore Castle, Tiverton. 



This outer area is only just traceable in a grass field known as ' Slimmond's Woods ' ; but not long 

 since it was under the plough. On a higher level than the camp a circular mound surrounded by 

 a ditch is clearly defined, but it is impossible to ascertain the former height of that mound. At 



600 



