Boringdon Camp is an English

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostl ...

and

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

earthwork in Cann Woods, near

Plympton Plympton is a suburb of the city of Plymouth in Devon, England. It is in origin an ancient stannary town. It was an important trading centre for locally mined tin, and a seaport before the River Plym silted up and trade moved down river to P ...

, Plymouth,

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...

. It is a

scheduled ancient monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...

and owned by South Hams District Council. The site is on a hilltop at above sea level, with views down the

Plym Plym can refer to: * River Plym, in Devon * HMS ''Plym'' (K271), a River class frigate * ''Plym'' and ''Plym II'', former and current Torpoint Ferries * ''Plym'', a GWR Caliph Class The Great Western Railway (GWR) Ariadne Class and Caliph Cla ...

Valley of

Plymouth Sound Plymouth Sound, or locally just The Sound, is a deep inlet or sound in the English Channel near Plymouth in England. Description Its southwest and southeast corners are Penlee Point in Cornwall and Wembury Point in Devon, a distance of abou ...

, away. The site is located immediately behind the Cann Wood parking at the modern road from Plympton to Shaugh Prior. Since 1st April 2016, the site is closed to visitors, however. The reasons given are the erosion of the earthwork due to visitors walking on it, and conflicts between dogs not kept on lead and grazing sheep (the latter being essential for the conservation of the site). The fort is constructed around an earlier ring ditch, and covers an area of around . The remains consist of a sub-circular enclosure surrounded by an rampart and a similarly sized outer ditch. This ditch can still be seen in places, though tree planting has covered some of the defences around the main entrance. To the east of the fort is a banked path, the remains of a medieval road from Plympton to Shaugh Prior. The road was abandoned in the early 19th century. The site was listed as a scheduled ancient monument in 1939. Boringdon Camp Digital Terrain Model

Quarrying in the area has led to disturbance of the site, and part of the area around Boringdon Camp is now a golf course. A former

lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...

mine and its smelt mill are also nearby. The mining remains are also a scheduled monument, as is a deer park which was established in Boringdon Wood in 1699. Traces of another deer park constructed to the east in the early 18th century have also survived.

References

{{coord, 50.419, N, 4.05, W, display=title Hill forts in Devon Scheduled monuments in Devon