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Summary

An Iron Age contour fort measuring 290m by 160m with well preserved ramparts on the north and west sides.

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 29682: GOLDEN CAMP HILLFORT

Other References/Statuses

• National Mapping Programme (Morph No.): 216/26/1
• OS No. (OS Quarter-sheet and OS No.): SW94NW 5
• Primary Record No. (1985-2009): 23027
• SMR No. (OS Quarter-sheet and SMR No.): SW94NW 46

Monument Type(s):

• HILLFORT (Iron Age - 800 BC to 42 AD)
• HILLFORT (Romano British - 43 AD to 409 AD)

Full description

Unless it is Ptolemy's Voliba, as suggested by Borlase (b1, b2) and others (b9, b11), Golden fort is first mentioned in the C12, when it is described as 'Castellario' (b13). Borlase was the first antiquarian to take an interest in the site (b1, b2, and quoted by b3, b4, b7, b8). He mentions the pentagonal form of the enclosure, and describes features which are no longer evident - a masonry revetment of the outer face of the ditch (b1) and round turrets or buttresses of the same masonry interspersed with the straight lines of the ditch (quoted in b7). Borlase and others, for example the VCH (b9) considered Golden to be a Roman work, but Hencken and Rivet (b10, b14) describe it as an Iron Age contour fort, called Gear Meadow in 1840 (b5). Golden fort lies on a southern slope at the east of a spur over a valley, and follows the contour on the north and west, dipping on the south. It measures 290m east to west and 160m north to south, enclosing 3.4 hectacres. The rampart is well preserved on the north and west, 10.0m wide and 1.5m wide respectively. The U-shaped ditch is 5.5m wide and 1.2m deep. On the south, ploughing has levelled the inner bank to leave a terraced rampart, that on the west may be the original entrance as there is an inturn in the ditch. The earthwork was sited so as to have a southern aspect rather than straddling the hilltop; the interior is now ploughed and shows no signs of settlement. The site is Scheduled, in reasonable order, and is visible on a number of aerial photos (p1, 2). Henderson suggests that the fort may still have served for defensive purposes in the Medieval period (see 23027.1). Place-names suggest that it was used as a warren in historic times (23027.2).
The monument was included in the Schedule on 13/12/1929 and the scheduling was affirmed on 10/8/1999.

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Site history:
1: 1977. CC/OS
2: 1977. PAS/CCRA
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RAF, 1946, 106G/UK/1663 /4018-9 (Photographic Record). SCO10214.

<1> Dobinson, CS, 1996-2000, Twentieth Century Fortifications in England, 75 (Bibliographic reference). SCO3218.

<2> Deakin, AN, 1892, Guide to Fowey and Neighbourhood, 313, 306 (Bibliographic reference). SCO3212.

CUC, 1975, HS 55 (Photographic Record). SCO15758.

<3> Tithe Award, 1840s, St Mewan, VOL 1, 372 (Bibliographic reference). SCO4905.

<4> Harvey, J (Ed), 1969, Itineraries of William of Worcestre, VOL III, 365-367 (Bibliographic reference). SCO3466.

<6> MACLAUGHLAN, H, 1848, UNKNOWN TITLE, 24-25 (Unedited Source). SCO6009.

<8> Lloyds Of London, 1878, Lloyd's Register of British and Foreign Shipping 1878-1879, VOL 4, 100 (Bibliographic reference). SCO3873.

<9> Wilkinson, JJ, 1871, Tintagel Castle, 467, 469; VOL 2, 35 (Article in Journal). SCO5049.

<10> Tithe Award, 1840s, Lanteglos by Camelford, 195 (Bibliographic reference). SCO4796.

<12> Weatherhill, C, 1981, Belerion: Ancient Sites of Land's End, 46 (Bibliographic reference). SCO5027.

<13> Tithe Award, 1840s, Little Petherick, (NS) VOL 34, 419 (Bibliographic reference). SCO4806.

<14> RIVET, ALF, 1956, RECTIFIED 6-INCH MAP (Unedited Source). SCO7612.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events: none recorded

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