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Hillfort menu
800 BC - AD 43 |
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Castle-an-Dinas
One of the largest and most impressive hillforts
in Cornwall, sited in an imposing position on the summit of Castle
Downs with extensive and panoramic views across central Cornwall to
both north and south coasts. |
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Castle Dore
The defences consist of a circular rampart set within an oval one;
both ramparts were constructed from material excavated from external
ditches. The ditch to the inner rampart survives well but that
associated with the outer rampart is now infilled on the west side
of the earthwork. |
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Castle Pencaire
Sited on the summit of Tregonning Hill, by tradition an abode of
giants, this hillfort is oval in shape and
defined by a pair of ramparts and ditches with entrances on both the
east and west sides. |
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Chûn Castle
Sited on the summit of Chûn
Downs this hillfort commands extensive views north and north-west to the
Atlantic Coast and south towards Mounts Bay. |
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Helsbury
This hillfort comprises a single bank and external ditch
enclosing an area about 140 metres in diameter. In places the inner
face of the bank is visible and this shows that the rampart was
built of dry stone walling. |
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At the top end of the hierarchy of later Iron Age settlement are the
hillforts. Defined by one or, more usually, two or three imposing
ramparts, these sites are interpreted as central places overseeing
large tribal territories.
The ramparts may have been intended to impress rather than to have
functioned as a defensive barrier as few signs of warfare ever come
from excavation. They were constructed from around 500 BC and appear
to go out of fashion in the years following the Roman Conquest. |
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