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Summary

The northern part of the hillfort was occupied by the Roman army in the mid first century AD. Several substantial timber buildings were erected.

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1018850: Hembury Fort
• SHINE: Hembury Fort. Neolithic causewayed enclosure and Iron Age hillfort with evidence for Roman occupation south east of Broadhembury

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: 188808
• Old DCC SMR Ref: ST10SW/4/2
• Old SAM Ref: 29660
• Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division: ST10SW4
• Royal Albert Memorial Museum Accession Number: EXE 139/1935/C1

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• FORT (I - 55 AD to 70 AD (Between))

Full description

Todd, M., Hembury: Roman Military Structures (Plan - measured). SDV358710.

Clifford, W., 1878, On the Course of a Roman Military Road through Somersetshire (Article in Serial). SDV135861.

Hembury Fort is 15 miles (1 march) east of Exeter. It can be associated with the Roman Station of Levcarus on the Antonine Itinerary (clifford).

Liddell, D. M., 1930, A Report on the Excavations at Hembury Fort, Devon, 1930 (Article in Serial). SDV135816.

Liddell, D. M., 1931, Report of the Excavations at Hembury Fort (Article in Serial). SDV338993.

Liddell, D. M., 1932, Report of the Excavations at Hembury Fort (Article in Serial). SDV338994.

Unknown, 1935, EXE 139/1935/CI (Worksheet). SDV345743.

Coin of Claudius possibly from the 1935 excavations, is in Exeter Museum. Details on sheet in parish file.

Liddell, D. M., 1935, Report on the Excavations at Hembury Fort (Article in Serial). SDV338838.

Excavations between 1930 and1935 located part of a rectangular building inside the north-east entrance with Romano-British pottery, Samian ware of AD 50-75, and a coin of Claudius.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1951 - 1985, ST10SW4 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV135826.

Roman gate inserted into the north-west angle of Hembury Fort suggests the hillfort was adopted for use by the Roaman army.

Fox, A., 1963, Twenty-Seventh Report On Archaeology and Early History, 83-4 (Article in Serial). SDV124457.

Coin of Nero (AD 54-69) was found in a drystone well at Hembury Fort. Other early Roman finds were made during the excavations at Hembury in 1930-1935, and it appears that the hillfort was occupied until 70 AD.

Todd, M., 1981, Excavations at Hembury (Devon), 1980 (Article in Serial). SDV354960.

Todd, M., 1982, Excavations at Hembury (Devon) in 1982. Interim Report (Report - Interim). SDV135860.

Excavation towards the north-east of the hillfort recovered one denarius (date unknown) and an as of Claudius (41-54 AD).

Unknown, 1982, Roman Britain in 1981, 382-4 (Article in Serial). SDV345744.

Unknown, 1983, Roman Britain in 1982, 323,325 (Article in Serial). SDV35310.

In 1981 a further building of uncertain plan and function was identified near the centre of the hillfort.1981-82 work elaborated on first rectangular building, identifying further ranges of a substantial post-built structure circa 31 metres by 16 metres, possibly of courtyard plan. Metalworking debris was associated with this building, and it may have been a fabrica. West of this a small open ended shed circa 6 metres by 4.2 metres was also excavated in 1982. This had a good cobbled surface around it and an open area beyond it to the west. The courtyard building overlies earlier Roman and Prehistoric structures and the shed also overlay an earlier complex building.

Todd, M., 1984, Excavations at Hembury (Devon) 1980-3; A Summary Report (Article in Serial). SDV135872.

Todd, M., 1984, Hembury (Devon): Roman Troops in a Hillfort, 171-4 (Article in Serial). SDV135868.

Summary of the evidence for early Roman military use of the hillfort, and discussion in the context of the Roman advance in the South West.

Todd, M., 1986, Die Ausgrabrugen in Hembury (Devon) und die Romische Eroberung Sudwest Englands (Report - non-specific). SDV47330.

Analysis of the plan of the west gate of the Iron Age hillfort suggest that the Iron Age post pits are cut by nine post holes of a Roman gate, 3 metres wide with a single portal. Evidence of shortlived occupation at the site probably circa SD 50-60. There was no evidence of a Roman assault.

Devon Archaeological Society, 1989, Hembury (Leaflet). SDV135893.

The northern part of the hillfort was occupied by the Roman army in about the middle of the first century AD during their conquest of the south-west peninsula. Several substantial timber buildings were erected included a workshop (fabrica) and possibly an officer's residence (praetorium).

Todd, M., 1993, An Arretine Vessel from Hembury (Article in Serial). SDV345746.

A military building comprising courtyard surrounded by verandah supported on substantial timber posts was excavated in 1982. The rim fragment of an arretine terra sigillata platter of dr form 17 was found within the builing. The same building also produced many small glass fragments of high quality, as well as two denarii hidden under a stone. This suggests high status residential quarters, possibly the praetorium. In the western provinces the vessel form was probably at its commonest in the period AD10-40.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport, 1998, Hembury Fort (Schedule Document). SDV340163.

The monument includes Hembury Fort, a small multivallate hillfort of Iron Age date.The location of the hillfort, on a narrow south facing promontory at the end of a 240 metres high ridge protruding from the Blackdown Hills, was almost certainly chosen for its natural defensive qualities and its extensive views over the Otter River valley and the surrounding countryside. The site was later occupied by the Roman army. The Iron Age occupation of the hillfort may have ended prior to the erection in the northern part of the monument's interior of a number of Roman timber buildings which have been suggested to represent the workshops and accommodation for a unit of the Roman army in residence during the middle of the first century AD. This unit was perhaps connected with the known Roman iron-working sites in the nearby Blackdown Hills whilst the Roman legionary fortress at Exeter, first occupied at about the same time, lay only 25 kilometres to the south-west. The Roman occupation saw the rebuilding of the western gateway but two transverse banks and ditches which serve to cut off the northern two thirds of the interior of the monument, traditionally interpreted as Roman works, have been demonstrated to be Post Medieval. All fencing and fence posts are excluded from the scheduling, although the ground beneath these features is included. Hembury Fort survives in exceptionally good condition with a well defined circuit of defences surrounding the entire monument. In addition to its Iron Age usage, the monument has produced extensive evidence for its occupation as a base for a unit of the Roman army operating in the middle of the 1st century AD. The monument will therefore provide valuable archaeological information relating to the lives, economy, and landscape of the Roman military occupation of the South West. Other details: Monument 29660.

Salvatore, J. P., 1998, Hembury Fort (Un-published). SDV135890.

Site visited on 13th January 1998. The Iron Age hillfort was later utilised by the Roman army probably after the Iron Age occupation had ceased. Excavations have revealed a number of Roman timber buildings in the northern part of the hillfort which have been suggested to represent the workshops and accommodation for a unit of the Roman army in residence during the middle years of the first century AD.. This unit was perhaps connected with the known Roman iron working sites in the nearby Blackdown Hills whilst the Roman Legionary Fortress at Exeter, first occupied at about the same time, lay only 25 kilometres to the south-west. The Roman occupation saw the rebuilding of the west gateway but two transverse banks and ditches which serve to cut off the northern two thirds of the interior of the monument, which have traditionally been interpreted as Roman works, have been demonstrated to be . (mpp). Other details: MPP 144427.

Wallace, C., 2006, Long Lived Samian?, 265 (Article in Serial). SDV361745.

A sherd of Italian-type sigillata of Tiberian date, among the pottery from the Claudian-Neronian fort at Hembury, Devon (Todd, 1993).

Todd, M., 2007, Roman Military Occupation at Hembury (Devon), 107-123 (Article in Serial). SDV343950.

The large hillfort at Hembury, near Honiton (Devon) is one of the most impressive late prehistoric
sites in South-West England. Occupied in the Neolithic and Iron Age,excavations have also shown that it was taken over by the Roman military in about AD55. Substantial timber buildings were constructed, including a probable fabrica, in which iron from the adjacent Blackdown hills was worked. The Roman site was abandoned by the early Flavian period, certainly by AD70 and not reoccupied. It is unlikely that the Roman occupation of Hembury was within a conventional fort. At South Cadbury and Ham Hill in Somerset and Maiden Castle, Dorset there is similarly no clear evidence of a formal fort layout within the Iron Age ramparts and it appears, therefore, that Roman re-use of earlier sites did not always include regularly planned forts.

National Monuments Record, 2010, 188808 (National Monuments Record Database). SDV345738.

The earthwork remains of an Iron Age multivallate hillfort was later used for a short time by the Roman military. Their construction appears to postdate the hillfort ramparts, although unequivocal dating evidence for their construction is lacking.

Griffith, F.M. + Quinnell, H. + Wilkes, E, 2013, Hillforts of Devon, 22-24 (Monograph). SDV352457.

Excavations in the 1980s showed that there was Roman military use of the site, probably in the AD 50s-60s with both hillfort entrances being reused. Several military style buildings were identified in the northern part of the interior including a fabrica.
See guide booklet for further information.

Griffith, F. M. + Wilkes, E. M., 2016, Hembury, Payhembury Fort, Devon: Geophysical Survey (Report - Geophysical Survey). SDV360861.

Hembury (Payhembury) Fort is considered to be the most westerly of the ‘Wessex style’ multivallate hillforts of the first millennium BC, with earlier occupation, demonstrated through excavations in the 1930s and 1980s, as a Neolithic causewayed enclosure, and with subsequent Roman military use. A sample survey to explore the potential of two geophysical survey techniques at Hembury Fort was conducted by this team in May 2015. This confirmed the usefulness of both magnetic gradiometry and earth resistance techniques within the hillfort. Vegetation clearance at the time of that survey had opened up some areas of the interior for survey, but much of it, particularly in the southern half of the site, remained inaccessible. Further survey was recommended when conditions were more favourable.

The earth resistance survey was undertaken over a small area in the north of the hillfort interior in order to assess whether features of Roman date excavated by Todd (1984a; 1984b; 2007) could be detected. Nine 30m x 30m squares were surveyed within the same grid as the magnetic gradiometer survey. There was some overlap with the area surveyed with this technique in 2015.

Area rH lies in an area of slightly raised, ground, drier at the time of the survey, and this may account for the higher resistance recorded here. This is also an area excavated by Todd (1984a; 1984b) in which further Roman military structures were recorded (as at rG).

Linear anomalies rI lie outside the area of Todd’s trenches but the responses and form are similar to those of rG and may be further Roman (military) structures. rJ is a further possibility of such structures towards the western side of the interior of the monument. (Please see report for full extent of anomalies).

Todd, M., Sept 1981, Hembury (Devon). Excavation in 1981 (Report - Interim). SDV135828.

Royal Albert Memorial Museum, unknown, Hembury Fort (Causway Camp and Hillfort) (Worksheet). SDV359104.

Bronze As of Claudius, AD41-54. Bare head of Claudius looking left on obverse, Ceres veiled, seated in a high backed chair on the reverse. She is holding ears of corn in her right hand a long torch across her lap in her left. The coin which is in fairly good condition, is rough without being 'barbarous'. It could have been minted in Britain or on the Continent but not in Rome. See worksheet for further details.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds

• FDV4254 - POT (I to Unknown - 1 AD)
• FDV1747 - COIN (I - 41 AD to 100 AD)
• FDV5741 - AMPHORA (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• FDV1746 - GLASS VESSEL (I to IV - 43 AD to 400 AD)
• FDV1169 - POT (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)

Associated Events

• EDV6794 - Excavations at Hembury Fort
• EDV6798 - Excavations at Hembury Hillfort
• EDV7504 - Geophysical Survey; Hembury, Payhembury Fort, Devon

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