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Summary

Kidney-shaped enclosure with a simple causewayed entrance on the south-east side, possibly originally a circular enclosure with a later annexe extended to the north-east. Additional defence is afforded on the uphill side by a bank and ditch which extend across the neck of the spur.

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1003863: Northcott Wood camp
• SHINE: Northcott Wood Camp. Earthworks of Iron Age hillfort south of Boyton Mill, earthworks of enclosure of unknown date to south and ford dating to the 19th century or earlier

Other References/Statuses

• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX39SW/501
• Old SAM County Ref: 66

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• HILLFORT (Prehistoric - 698000 BC to 42 AD (Between))

Full description

Royal Air Force, F22 58/1715 0132-3 14 4 55 (Aerial Photograph). SDV8494.

Baring Gould, S., Untitled Source, 236 (Monograph). SDV8482.

Fort, an inner stronghold surrounded by a small bank above an escarpment and a fosse 5 metres deep and 9m wide. Counterscarp surmounted by bank 1 metre high beyond which is a level area with another bank and fosse 1.8 metres deep. The banks are formed with earth and shale. At the extreme south-west is a causeway across an inner ditch, the width being an estimated 8 metres. The ditch and bank are not visible where the hill slopes steeply towards the river Tamar, but on the road to Boyton, not far off, descends a steep hill called Pickleberry Hill which is suggested as the name which the camp was called.

English Heritage, 13/07/2014, Northcott Wood Camp, Lower Northcott, Devon (Correspondence). SDV356990.

Application for Scheduled Monument Consent in respect of proposed works at the above site concerning the erection of a new fence along north and west outer edge of camp, one metre into field or less.

Wall, J. C., 1906, Ancient Earthworks, 600 (Article in Monograph). SDV341465.

Plan gives inner and outer enclosures still surviving as earthworks, though the outer enclosure was being ploughed by then. Other details: Plan.

Office of Works, 1923, Northcott Wood Camp (Schedule Document). SDV8484.

Northcott Wood Camp. This camp, the southerly of two in Northcott hamlet is in an oak coppice and has probably never been meddled with. Our local correspondent found a flint core found on the surface on a former visit. It is formed by a long irregular ditch which makes a bank some six feet high. The ditch and bank are not visible where the hill slopes rather steeply towards the river Tamar.
The parish road leading to Boyton is not far off and descends a steep hill known as Pickleberry Hill which it is suggested may have taken the name from the camps.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1951, SX39SW11 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV8485.

A camp comprising an inner and outer stronghold above the River Tamar.
A well preserved Iron Age hill-slope settlement in dense woodland on a small spur. Natural protection is offered on the west and east by steep slopes which fall to confluence of the River Tamar and a tributary. The settlement is overlooked by high ground to the north east, where there is a probable Iron Age farmstead. (Site visit 05/02/1974).
Height of outer bank on west side 9.5 metres. Depth of outer ditch 1.3 metres, width circa 10 metres. The whole area is afforested and the banks of earth and shale are well preserved. At the south-west entrance is a causeway across the inner ditch 8 metres wide. Other details: Photo.

National Monuments Record, 1974, Untitled Source (National Monuments Record Database). SDV8486.

Earthwork encloses a kidney-shaped area 80 metres north-east to south-west by 40 metres north-west to south-east and consists of a strong bank of earth + shale up to 2.9 metres high, and ditch, with counterscarp bank up to 1.7 metres high. A simple causewayed entrance on south-east side. Disturbance of internal area is evident in several places. Additional defence is afforded on uphill side of settlement by fairly strong bank, up to 1.8 metres high and ditch, which extends for 180 metres across the neck of the spur. At SX33159810 a probable entrance gap is now utilised by a ?modern track which descends the spur on the e side of the enclosure, and forms a deep hollow way at SX33039167 where it joins the old terrace way serving boyton mill and hele. Other details: Citing OSA.

National Monument Record, 1979, SF 1510, 435 (Aerial Photograph). SDV8491.

Weston, S., 1983, List of Field Monument Warden Visits 1983 (Un-published). SDV343247.

Visited 1982. National Monuments Record aerial photo dated 1979 shows site under scrub, apparently not wholly planted with trees. Earthworks appear to be much diminished compared with Victoria County History/Ancient Monument descriptions.

Environment Agency, 2000-2019, LiDAR DTM data (1m resolution) EA: Tamar Aerial Survey project area, LIDAR Environment Agency LAST RETURN 19-DEC-2004 (Cartographic). SDV363954.

Curvilinear earthwork ditches and a section of bank are visible.

Cornwall Archaeological Unit, 2001-2002, Tamar Valley National Mapping Programme Transcriptions and Database Records (Interpretation). SDV346287.

The banks and ditches of the hillfort were initially transcribed as part of the Tamar Valley NMP survey. Further details from the survey database, including aerial photograph references and interpretive text, are awaiting accessioning.

English Heritage, 2011, Heritage at Risk Register 2011: South West, 115 (Report - non-specific). SDV355280.

Generally unsatisfactory with major localised problems. Declining. Principal vulnerability scrub/tree growth.

Environment Agency, 2011, LIDAR data JPEG images (2 metre resolution) (Cartographic). SDV348634.

Knight, S., 2011, Site Visit to Lower Northcott Farm (Personal Comment). SDV347033.

Site visit 31st March 2011. English Heritage are drawing up a management plan for fencing, clearing understorey and thinning trees, especially on the ramparts to create wood pasture. New water sources are needed, access to be agreed.

Horner, W., 2015, Northcott Wood Camp (Personal Comment). SDV358514.

Lidar shows an earthwork subdivision within the camp. Possibly originally a circular enclosure with a later annexe extended to the north.

Hegarty, C., Houghton, E., Knight, S. and Sims, R., 2020-2021, Tamar/Lidar; A Single Source Approach to Landscape Survey and Socially Distanced Community Archaeology Area 2 (Culture Recovery Fund project) (Interpretation). SDV364011.

Ditches and a section of bank are visible as earthworks on visualisations derived from lidar data captured in 2004. A curvilinear ditch circa 325 metres in length and between 3 and 5 metres in width, and forming part of the outer stronghold of the settlement is visible, with a section of bank clearly discernible at its eastern end. A ditch between circa 3 and 8 metres in width and defining the central enclosure of approximately 90 metres by 50 metres is also visible, with a gap on its south-east side. A short section of ditch projects into the centre of the enclosure and it may have once been either extended or subdivided.
A curvilinear ditch orientated north-east to south-west appears to join the central enclosure on its east side and continue to join the recorded settlement enclosure to the north-east (MDV2763). This has been interpreted as a possible field boundary or trackway and may be contemporary to the monuments (MDV129965).
The visualisation is of poor quality due to the wooded nature of the site, and not all the earthworks were able to be confidently transcribed. The earthworks had previously been transcribed as part of the Tamar Valley NMP Survey, and were re-transcribed based upon the recent lidar data.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV1149 - Unnamed Event
• EDV1150 - Unnamed Event
• EDV8356 - Tamar/Lidar; A Single Source Approach to Landscape Survey and Socially Distanced Community Archaeology Area 2 (Culture Recovery Fund) (Ref: ACD2424)

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