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Summary

Remains of an Iron Age hilltop enclosure to the north-west of Lucy Cleave Wood

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1020070: Hilltop enclosure 330m south of Hardstone Cottage
• SHINE: Prehistoric oval enclosure north west of Lucy Cleave Wood
• Scheduled Monument 1020070: Hilltop enclosure 330m south of Hardstone Cottage

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: 436761
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX37NE/501
• Old SAM County Ref: 880
• Old SAM Ref: 34279
• Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division: SX37NE8

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• ENCLOSURE (Early Iron Age to Middle Iron Age - 700 BC to 300 BC (Between))

Full description

Woollcombe, H., 1839-1850, Woollcombe Manuscript (Un-published). SDV16214.

Site visited in May 1840. Furzleigh Castle circular enclosure (circa 200feet diameter) single bank and ditch. Under cultivation. Other details: Plan.

Ordnance Survey, 1880-1899, First Edition Ordnance 25 inch map (Cartographic). SDV336179.

'Camp' shown on 19th century map as a sub-circular earthwork.

Wall, J. C., 1906, Ancient Earthworks, 605 (Article in Monograph). SDV341465.

Remains of a small circular camp now almost levelled. Under plough (circa 1906), a gradual swelling mound reveals the position of the rampart, but there are no signs of an entrance. Other details: Plan.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1950 - 1952, SX37NE8 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV346029.

Site visited on 22nd february 1951. Still under plough. The northern uphill side is in the best state of preservation, height about 0.5 metres, south bank 0.3 metres high, discernable by a colouration of the soil; it may once have had a stone revetment. Possibly a cattle enclosure of unknown date.

Cambridge University, 1953, CUC/MG, 81-2 (Aerial Photograph). SDV346032.

Visible on 1953 aerial photographs.

Department of Environment, 1974, Camp west of Lucy Cleave Wood (Schedule Document). SDV346027.

Camp west of Lucy Cleave Wood. An oval banked enclosure 100 yards (91.44 metres) by 70 yards (64 metres). The bank is preserved to a maximum height of 3 feet (0.91 metres) and is spread 10-20 yards (3-6 metres-) wide. There is no clear trace of a ditch as the whole camp has been ploughed right down. The site is on the slope of the hill in a position similar to the Welsh Raths. Probably of Pre-Roman Iron Age date. Other details: Monument 880.

Devon Committee for Rescue Archaeology, 1979, Untitled Source (Personal Comment). SDV346031.

Almost totally ploughed out. On the ground only gentle undulations of bank and ditch are visible.

Weston, S., 1983, List of Field Monument Warden Visits 1982 (Un-published). SDV342456.

Miller, A., 1985, SX37NE (Cartographic). SDV346036.

Griffith, F. M., 1987, Untitled Source (Personal Comment). SDV346033.

No trace of the earthwork could be seen in grass field from the air, despite reasonably good oblique sunlight.

Walford, G. F., 1987, Untitled Source (Worksheet). SDV346034.

Site visited in January 1987 when it was hard to distinguish as it is now ploughed very low. Edges of banks and ditches not now clear. Ground slopes down to south-west. Approximately 75-80 metres in diameter. Farmer knows site as 'The Rings'.

Griffith, F. M. + Walford, G. + Brierley, 1987, Untitled Source (Personal Comment). SDV346035.

Site visited on 20th April 1987. Low earthworks still just perceptible though ploughed very smooth. Perhaps more D-shaped with a straight edge on the eastern side. Entrance could possible be in the south side. Still under intermittent cultivation, unlikely to be visible much longer. Apparently visible as a parch mark in dry summers from Cartnamartha opposite.

Dyer, M. J. + Manning, P. T., 1998, Objective 5B: Lower Tamar Valley Recreation and Land Management Iinitiative: Cultural Heritage Appraisal, 10 (Report - non-specific). SDV319814.

Environment Agency, 2000-2019, LiDAR DTM data (1m resolution) EA: Tamar Aerial Survey project area, LIDAR Environment Agency LAST RETURN 20-FEB-2005 (Cartographic). SDV363954.

The enclosure is visible as bank and ditch earthworks.

Cornwall Archaeological Unit, 2001-2002, Tamar Valley National Mapping Programme Transcriptions and Database Records, RAF/3G/TUD/137/5109 &10 CM 11-APR-1946 (Interpretation). SDV346287.

Cropmarks which have formed over a banked enclosure of unknown, but potential prehistoric, date are visible on aerial photographs of 1946.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport, 2002, Hilltop Enclosure 330 metres south of Hardstone Cottage (Schedule Document). SDV346028.

This monument includes a hilltop enclosure situated on an upland ridge overlooking the valley of the River Tamar. Although it does not occupy the very summit of the hill, it does have commanding views across the valley and surrounding landscape. The monument survives as an oval enclosure measuring 56.4 metres long internally north to south by 47.2 metres wide east to west. It is defined by an outer bank which measures up to 13.3 metres wide and 0.5 metres high. This rampart bank is best preserved to the north. The whole enclosure slopes to the south and west. Beyond the rampart bank is an outer ditch which measures up to 10 metres wide and 0.2 metres deep. The ditch is discernible on all sides but slightly less clear to the west. The original entrances are not clearly defined but thought to lie on the southern side. Hilltop enclosures date to between the Bronze Age and Early Iron Age (eighth-fifth centuries BC). Despite reduction in the height of its ramparts through cultivation the hilltop enclosure survives comparatively well and will contain both archaeological and environmental information relating to the monument and its surrounding landscape. Other details: Monument 34279.

National Monuments Record, 2010, 436761 (National Monuments Record Database). SDV346030.

The earthwork remains of a Prehistoric hilltop enclosure, 330 metres south of Hardstone Cottage.

Ordnance Survey, 2010, MasterMap (Cartographic). SDV344030.

'Earthwork' shown on modern mapping. Map object previously based on this Source.

NERC, 2013, LiDAR DTM data (1m resolution) Tellus: Tamar Aerial Survey project area, LIDAR Tellus LAST RETURN 01-JUL-2013 to 31-AUG-2013 (Cartographic). SDV363955.

The enclosure is visible as bank and ditch earthworks.

Houghton, P., 2015, An Archaeological and Historical Report on The Upper Tamar Valley including Excavations at Lamerhooe Volume One, 50, 59-61, map 12, 14 (Report - Assessment). SDV363240.

Small annual earthwork at 'Woodtown' with a single bank much ploughed out. Date not certain, it is still just visible above ground; can be seen as a cropmark from Carthamartha in Cornwall from the opposite side of the Tamar River. Oval structure 57m (north-south) internally by 47m (east-west). Defined by an outer bank up to 13m wide and 0.5m high. The bank is best preserved on the north side. Thought to date from the late Bronze Age to Iron Age period and may have been used to enclose stock animals.

Hegarty, C., Knight, S. and Sims, R., 2020-2021, Tamar/Lidar; A Single Source Approach to Landscape Survey and Socially Distanced Community Archaeology Area 1 (AI&M project) (Interpretation). SDV363945.

The enclosure is visible as a curvilinear bank circa 12 metres in width on visualisations derived from lidar data captured in 2005 and 2013. The bank forms an oval enclosure comprising an area approximately 50 metres by 60 metres. The bank is surrounded by an outer ditch visible as a subtle earthwork between 4 and 14 metres in width.
The earthwork bank had been previously transcribed as part of the Tamar Valley NMP. The earthworks have been re-transcribed as part of the 2020-2021 Tamar/Lidar Project based on recent lidar data.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments: none recorded

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV6911 - Tamar Valley National Mapping Programme
• EDV8345 - Tamar/Lidar; A Single Source Approach to Landscape Survey and Socially Distanced Community Archaeology Area 1 (AI&M) (Ref: ACD2380)

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