More information : ST 04403808. Crop-mark of sub-rectangular enclosure. (Note field name 'Castle Hill' to east. - ST 03 NW 15). (1)
The 1947 air photographs show the enclosure clearly. It is sub-rectangular and approximately 100m long and 50m wide. The remains of an outer feature are just discernible on this photograph (2). Since then the field has been regularly ploughed and an aerial photographic transcription of the site is being undertaken (3-4).
The enclosure described above can be seen clearly on aerial photographs from 1962. The cropmark is visible as three distinct areas of growth - two darker areas surrounding a lighter area. The lighter area appears to be retarded crop growth, suggesting the presence of a bank surrounded by a ditch on both sides. The lighter crop measures up to 12 metres wide, while the darker area is no more than 5 metres wide at its widest point. A break in the cropmark on the western side may represent a possible entranceway.
The enclosure is most likely to be prehistoric in date, probably belonging to the Later Prehistoric period, or more specifically, the Iron Age. It could be the remains of an enclosed settlement or hillslope enclosure, and further survey is required. The area is regularly ploughed (5).
The enclosure described above is also visible as cropmarks on Historic England oblique aerial photographs and as soilmarks on 2001 and 2010 Google Earth vertical aerial photographs. Environment Agency 1m airbone laser scanning data (lidar) collected in 2016 confirms that the site is still a substantial earthwork.
It is defined by a bank partly flanked by ditches (measuring up to 4m or more wide in parts). It encloses an area measuring 85m by 60m. It is situated on a north-east to south-west orientated ridge at between 195m and 210m above Ordnance Datum.
The enclosure sits within a field with the name 'Castle Hill' on the 1838 Nettlecombe tithe apportionment which suggests that earthworks were know there either in memory or reality (see Historic England Research Record 188395).
(6-9)
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