Voley Castle

51°12′07″N 3°55′30″W / 51.2019°N 3.9251°W / 51.2019; -3.9251 Voley Castle is an Iron Age hill fort situated close to Parracombe in north Devon, England. The fort is situated on a promontory on the eastern side of Heale Down, approximately 230 metres (750 ft) above sea level.^[1] It is close to another Iron Age hill fort at Beacon Castle. 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.^[2]

Description

The site consists of an approximately circular enclosure with an internal diameter of 68 metres (223 ft), surrounded by a bank 12 metres (39 ft) wide and 1.7 metres (5.6 ft) high.^[2] Surrounding the bank is an outer ditch, partially filed in, which is 5.4 metres (18 ft) wide and 0.6 metres (2.0 ft) deep.^[2] The interior of the site is around 0.4 hectares in area and generally level, with traces of a platform on the west side and a circular depression in the southwest corner.^[3] In the south is an entrance to the enclosure with a causeway across the ditch.^[2] Outside the bank to the south and west is an outwork, made up of a second bank and ditch up to 65 metres (213 ft) long, with an entrance and causeway across the ditch in line with the main entrance.^[2] A modern fence runs north to south across the site just west of the entrance.^[3]

Voley Castle is a type of hill fort known as a slight univallate hillfort, which are defined as enclosures between 1 and 10 hectares in size situated on or close to hilltops with a single line of relatively small earthworks.^[2] These date from the late Bronze Age and early Iron Age, and are numerically and geographically rare, being mainly confined to Devon.^[2] Voley Castle is unusual for this type of fort because it has an outwork.^[2]

Voley Castle is located on a steep east facing slope overlooking the valley of the River Heddon, with uninterrupted views down the valley and north towards the sea.^[3] Its location is unusual for a hill fort, because it is on a level shelf around 45 metres (148 ft) below the steeply rising crest of Heale Down hill, meaning that it would be very difficult to defend.^[3] Rather than being a fort, it has been suggested that the site likely represents a defended farmstead.^[3] The enclosure may have been used for holding cattle or possibly growing crops, and the outwork has been suggested to be a cattle enclosure.^[3] There are eight similar sites in Exmoor, but Voley Castle is the only one in an indefensible position.^[3] It is very similar to the site at Sweetworthy, in the eastern part of Exmoor in Somerset, in terms of its location, size and appearance.^[3]

References

^ Sellman, R.R. (1985). "The Iron Age in Devon (ch.2)". Aspects of Devon History. Exeter: Devon Books. pp. 11 (Map of Iron Age hill forts in Devon including Voley Castle). ISBN 0-86114-756-1.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h "Voley Castle". Historic England. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h "MDE1019 - Voley Castle, Heale Down (Monument)". The Historic Environment Record for Exmoor National Park. Retrieved 4 September 2022.