Voley Castle is an

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

hill fort A hillfort is a type of fortification, fortified refuge or defended settlement located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typical of the late Bronze Age Europe, European Bronze Age and Iron Age Europe, Iron Age. So ...

situated close to

Parracombe Parracombe is a rural settlement south-west of Lynton, in Devon, England. It is situated in the Heddon Valley, on Exmoor. The population at the 2011 census was 293. A number of Bronze Age barrows exist nearby, along with several other small ...

in north

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

, England. The fort is situated on a promontory on the eastern side of Heale Down, approximately above sea level. It is close to another Iron Age hill fort at

Beacon Castle Beacon Castle is an Iron Age hill fort close to Parracombe in Devon, England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 6 ...

. Voley Castle is a slight univallate hillfort, a rare type of hill fort found mainly in Devon, and is unusual for its type because it has an outer earthwork.

Description

The site consists of an approximately circular

enclosure Enclosure or inclosure is a term, used in English landownership, that refers to the appropriation of "waste" or "common land", enclosing it, and by doing so depriving commoners of their traditional rights of access and usage. Agreements to enc ...

with an internal diameter of , surrounded by a bank wide and high. Surrounding the bank is an outer ditch, partially filed in, which is wide and deep. The interior of the site is around in area and generally level, with traces of a platform on the west side and a circular depression in the southwest corner. In the south is an entrance to the enclosure with a

causeway A causeway is a track, road or railway on the upper point of an embankment across "a low, or wet place, or piece of water". It can be constructed of earth, masonry, wood, or concrete. One of the earliest known wooden causeways is the Sweet T ...

across the ditch. Outside the bank to the south and west is an

outwork An outwork is a minor fortification built or established outside the principal fortification limits, detached or semidetached. Outworks such as ravelins, lunettes (demilunes), flèches and caponier A caponier is a type of defensive structur ...

, made up of a second bank and ditch up to long, with an entrance and causeway across the ditch in line with the main entrance. A modern fence runs north to south across the site just west of the entrance.

Classification

Voley Castle is a type of hill fort known as a "slight univallate hillfort", which are defined as enclosures between in size situated on or close to hilltops with a single line of relatively small earthworks. These date from the

late Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

and early Iron Age, and are numerically and geographically rare, being mainly confined to Devon. Voley Castle is unusual for this type of fort because it has an

Purpose

Voley Castle is located on a steep east facing slope overlooking the valley of the

River Heddon The River Heddon is a river in Devon, in the south of England. Running along the western edges of Exmoor, the river reaches the North Devon coast at Heddon's Mouth. The nearest road access to the beach is at ''Hunter's Inn'', approximately sou ...

, with uninterrupted views down the valley and north towards the sea. Its location is unusual for a hill fort, because it is on a level shelf around below the steeply rising crest of Heale Down hill, meaning that it would be very difficult to defend. Rather than being a fort, it has been suggested that the site likely represents a defended

farmstead A farmstead refers to the buildings and service areas associated with a farm. It consists of a house belonging to a farm along with the surrounding buildings. The characteristics of a specific farmstead reflect the local landscape, which provides ...

. The enclosure may have been used for holding cattle or possibly growing crops, and the outwork has been suggested to be a cattle enclosure. There are eight similar sites in

Exmoor Exmoor () is loosely defined as an area of hilly open moorland in west Somerset and north Devon in South West England. It is named after the River Exe, the source of which is situated in the centre of the area, two miles north-west of Simons ...

, but Voley Castle is the only one in an indefensible position. It is very similar to the site at Sweetworthy, in the eastern part of Exmoor in

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

, in terms of its location, size and appearance.

References

{{Authority control Hill forts in Devon Archaeological sites on Exmoor