Scheduled Monuments›England›Hembury Castle

Hembury Castle

England
List entry 1003859
Nation
England
The designation
Reference
List entry 1003859
Authority
Historic England (NHLE)
Status
Scheduled Monument
Scheduled area
6.71 hectares
Grid reference
SX 72638 68449
Boundary

Scheduled area

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

Overview

History & significance

Hembury Castle is a hillfort situated near Honiton in Devon, England. The site occupies a naturally defensible hilltop position and dates from the Iron Age, representing a substantial prehistoric fortified settlement. The earthworks comprise a series of concentric ramparts and ditches that follow the contours of the hill, demonstrating careful adaptation to the landscape. Though no significant structural remains survive above ground, the surviving defensive earthworks remain an important archaeological record of Iron Age settlement and territorial control in the south-west of England.

Hembury Castle is a scheduled monument protected by Historic England under reference 1003859. View the official record →

About this monument

Questions & answers

What is Hembury Castle?

Hembury Castle is a hillfort situated near Honiton in Devon, England. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic England (NHLE) under reference 1003859.

Who is responsible for protecting Hembury Castle?

Hembury Castle 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 1003859.

What other scheduled monuments are near Hembury Castle?

Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including One of two stone hut circles on Corringdon Ball, north of Corringdon Farm (9.4 km), One of two stone hut circles north of Corringdon Leat, Corringdon Ball (9.6 km), One of two stone hut circles north of Corringdon Leat, Corringdon Ball (9.6 km).

Unlimited access

Everything a full report reveals about Hembury Castle

This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 15 strands of Hembury Castle'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.

Start your Hembury Castle report
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Nearby

Other scheduled monuments within 10 km

One of two stone hut circles on Corringdon Ball, north of Corringdon Farm
9.4 km
One of two stone hut circles north of Corringdon Leat, Corringdon Ball
9.6 km
One of two stone hut circles north of Corringdon Leat, Corringdon Ball
9.6 km
Glaze Meet blowing house (Tinner's Foundry)
10 km
Enclosure with hut circles north of Scad Brook
10.4 km
Hilltop enclosure at Yellowberries Copse, 430m west of Higher Turtley
10.4 km
Cairn NW of Beacon Plain
10.9 km
Cairn NNW of Beacon Plain
11 km
The ground beneath

The bedrock under Hembury Castle

Hembury Castle stands on Holsworthy Group, bedrock that formed in the Moscovian. The rock here is mudstone, siltstone and sandstone.

The wider landscape

Around Hembury Castle

ExeterRoman town · ~19.2 miles
Domesday entry for Buckfast, Devon →
All Scheduled Monuments