ANCIENT EARTHWORKS 





Castle Dyke, Ashcombe. 



a bold agger and fosse, the slope of the escarpment measuring 



each side are the remains of a rampart which evidently extended to the river on the north and 

 joined the inner defences on the south, enclosing an extensive area. The entrance was against one 

 side of the mound. 



At point F a path leads down to the river. 



SiLVERTOWN (O.S. Ixviii, 4). — Dolbury : In the deer park of Killerton are the remains 

 of a camp associated by legend 

 with Cadbury Castle, distant 

 4 miles from it, with the 

 valley of the Exe and Culm 

 intervening. 



It being but a poor frag- 

 ment crowning the summit of 

 a hill, we have not provided a 

 plan. Roman coins were found 

 here ; and Polwhele considers 

 it was a summer camp to 

 Exeter. 



SouTHLEiGH. — Blackbury 

 Castle, 3 miles north-west of 

 Seaton, is separated from the 

 camps in Branscombe parish by 

 a deep valley. Towards the 

 end of a ridge of lofty hills is 

 an oval camp 634 ft. long and 

 324 ft. wide, surrounded by 

 36 ft. at one point. 



The feature of Blackbury is a remarkable entrance on the south. The vallum turns outwards 

 and is extended on each side of a sunk road for 230 ft., with a fosse accompanying it the greater 

 part of the distance. From the extreme end of this road the ramparts and ditches are deflected 

 back at an angle of 40° until they rejoin the main defences. Two large triangular areas are thus 

 formed, one at either side of the entrance, each triangle being entered by a path through the 

 rampart skirting the road, about seventy feet from the camp. The extreme south-west end of the 

 road rampart rises to 8 ft. above the road and falls 20 ft. to the base of a fosse 1 2 ft. deep, making a 

 very strong defence. 



The entrances on the north and east are probably modern. 



A large mound 900 ft. south-east of the camp is traditionally said to cover the bodies 

 of those who fell in a great battle here; but an examination of the mound in 1861 yielded 

 nothing to show that it was a tumulus, but rather a natural hill. A great mass of calcined 

 flints and some charcoal found between the mound and the camp might, however, be taken 



as evidence that the hill was used as a 

 beacon. 



A large hoard of bronze celts, 

 palstaves, and various implements have 

 been found in the vicinity. 



Tiverton (O.S. xlv, 7). — Cran- 

 more Castle lies half a mile south 

 of the town, on the left bank of the 

 River Exe. 



The area enclosed is very ex- 

 tensive, and the defences of no great 

 strength. The works remaining em- 

 brace three-quarters of an irregular 

 ellipse, or egg-shape, the narrow end 

 being towards the river at the west, 

 where a rampart is on the crest of a 

 natural escarpment. Along the north is 

 an escarpment only, but at the east, on 

 the top of the hill, is a curved agger 

 10 ft. high. 

 Remains of buildings at the south-east, known as ' Cattle Barn,' have slight remains of banks 

 both front and back. 



During the disturbances in 1549 an engagement took place at Cranmore, when the insurgents 

 were defeated by the king's troops. 



I 601 76 







300 

 i 



Broadbury Castle, Beaworthy. 



