Scheduled Monuments›England›Blackbury Castle hillfort

Blackbury Castle hillfort

England
List entry 1013425
Nation
England
The designation
Reference
List entry 1013425
Authority
Historic England (NHLE)
Status
Scheduled Monument
Scheduled area
2.72 hectares
Grid reference
SY 18745 92360
Boundary

Scheduled area

© Mapbox · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Boundary data © Historic England (NHLE)

Overview

History & significance

Blackbury Castle is a prehistoric hillfort located in Devon, England. The site comprises a roughly circular or oval enclosure defined by a single bank and ditch, characteristic of Iron Age defensive settlements in the southwest of England. The fort occupies a commanding position on high ground, affording strategic views across the surrounding landscape. Like other hillforts of its class, Blackbury Castle likely served as a centre for settlement, refuge, and territorial control during the Iron Age period, though detailed excavation records specific to this site remain limited in the accessible scholarly literature.

Blackbury Castle hillfort is a scheduled monument protected by Historic England under reference 1013425. View the official record →

About this monument

Questions & answers

What is Blackbury Castle hillfort?

Blackbury Castle is a prehistoric hillfort located in Devon, England. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic England (NHLE) under reference 1013425.

Who is responsible for protecting Blackbury Castle hillfort?

Blackbury Castle hillfort is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by Historic England (NHLE) — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in England. The official designation reference is 1013425.

What other scheduled monuments are near Blackbury Castle hillfort?

Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Cross ridge dyke extending north and south of The Three Horse Shoes Inn (1.1 km), Round barrow cemetery on Broad Down (2.5 km), Two bowl barrows to the north west of Roncombe Gate Farm, forming part of a dispersed barrow group on Farway Hill (3.2 km).

Unlimited access

Everything a full report reveals about Blackbury Castle hillfort

This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 15 strands of Blackbury Castle hillfort's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:

Overview
An interactive map of the location with every monument and battle plotted, and a plain-language history built only from what the record holds.
Monuments
The legally protected scheduled monuments around the location, each with its period, type and significance.
Battlefields
The battles and sieges fought on this ground, mapped and set on a timeline of the wider conflict.
Roman Britain
The Roman roads, forts and towns near here, and the Iron Age people who held the land before Rome arrived.
Domesday
The settlement's entry in the 1086 Domesday Book: who held it, what it was worth, and the people who worked the land.
Civil War
The Civil War fighting, garrisons and recorded militaria in this area, woven into the arc of 1642 to 1651.
Geology
The bedrock beneath the site, its age and rock type, reaching back hundreds of millions of years.
LiDAR
Laser-scanned terrain that reveals earthworks hidden under fields and woodland, with likely features flagged.
Local Names
What the street and field names around here actually mean, and the history buried inside them.
Historical Maps
Ordnance Survey maps from the 1800s, layered over the location as it stands today.
Literature
The books, county histories, charters and archives that mention this place, quoted with their sources.
Legal
The protected sites nearby and the metal-detecting, access and treasure laws that apply to this ground.
Spotlight
A deep dive into the most remarkable, lesser-known history of the place, traced back to the record.
Target Zones
For detectorists: the most promising ground to search nearby, ranked by confidence, with what to expect.
Timeline
The whole story of the location told era by era, from prehistory to the present day.
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Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.

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Nearby

Other scheduled monuments within 10 km

Cross ridge dyke extending north and south of The Three Horse Shoes Inn
1.1 km
Round barrow cemetery on Broad Down
2.5 km
Two bowl barrows to the north west of Roncombe Gate Farm, forming part of a dispersed barrow group on Farway Hill
3.2 km
Bowl barrow at Bovey Fir Cross, 500m south of Bovey House
3.3 km
Two bowl barrows on the parish boundary to the south west of the B3174, forming part of a dispersed barrow group on Farway Hill
3.5 km
Prehistoric field system on the cliffs above Littlecombe Shoot
4.1 km
Berry Cliff Camp
4.1 km
Promontory fort on Seaton Down
4.8 km
The ground beneath

The bedrock under Blackbury Castle hillfort

Blackbury Castle hillfort stands on Gault Formation And Upper Greensand Formation (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Cenomanian. The rock here is mudstone, sandstone and limestone.

The wider landscape

Around Blackbury Castle hillfort

ExeterRoman town · ~16.6 miles
Domesday entry for Radish, Devon →
All Scheduled Monuments