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Burley Wood is a complex Iron Age hillfort located in Devon, England, which combines defensive earthworks of different periods and designs. The site comprises a motte with two baileys alongside multivallate ramparts, indicating successive phases of fortification and occupation spanning from the Iron Age through the medieval period. The multiple vallations and varied earthwork construction demonstrate the strategic importance of this location across different chronological periods, with the overlapping defensive systems suggesting continuous or repeated use and adaptation of the fortified site. The combination of prehistoric hillfort characteristics with later medieval motte-and-bailey features makes Burley Wood a significant example of long-term settlement continuity and defensive reuse in Devon's archaeological landscape.
Motte with two baileys and a multivallate hillfort at Burley Wood is a scheduled monument protected by Historic England under reference 1018519. View the official record →
Burley Wood is a complex Iron Age hillfort located in Devon, England, which combines defensive earthworks of different periods and designs. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic England (NHLE) under reference 1018519.
Motte with two baileys and a multivallate hillfort at Burley Wood 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 1018519.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Prehistoric irregular aggregate field system, stone hut circles and a medieval field on the south-west slope of White Tor (10.3 km), Stone hut circle 500m north of Wedlake Farm (10.4 km), Enclosed stone hut circle settlement on the south slope of White Tor (10.6 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 15 strands of Motte with two baileys and a multivallate hillfort at Burley Wood's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Motte with two baileys and a multivallate hillfort at Burley Wood stands on Holsworthy Group, bedrock that formed in the Moscovian. The rock here is mudstone, siltstone and sandstone.