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Bat's Castle

Somerset, England · Atlas EN4060

Bat's Castle is a partial contour fort in Carhampton, Somerset, England.

Other names on the record: Bat's Castle Camp and Caesar's Camp.

It is recorded as extant, with a univallate rampart form, surface evidence of earthen bank, rubble, and counterscarp bank, and an enclosed area of 1.2 hectares.

Banks or ramparts are the remains most likely to be visible.

The topographic record places it on a hilltop, at 213 m, and facing northwest.

Recorded land use includes pasture and scrub or bracken.

Dating evidence is recorded for 400 BC–AD 50 (Artefactual). Reliability is recorded as C - Low.

A scheduled monument number is recorded (1007667).

Location

Atlas number
EN4060 (4060)
Country
England
Current county or unitary authority
Somerset
Historic county
Somerset
Parish, community, or townland
Carhampton
National Grid reference
SS98814213
Latitude
51.16938
Longitude
-3.44877
Altitude
213 m

Form and condition

Type
partial contour fort
Condition
Extant
Morphology
univallate
Complete rampart circuit
Yes
Number of ramparts
1
Number of ditches
1
Possible original entrances
2
Breaks through the ramparts
3
Enclosed area
1.2 ha
Enclosing works, as visible
earthen bank, rubble, and counterscarp bank
Also recorded
ditches
Entrance forms
In-turned (East); Outworks (East); In-turned (West)

Landscape

Topographic position
hilltop
Aspect
northwest
Land use
pasture and scrub or bracken

Dating

Dating
400 BC–AD 50
Dating evidence
Artefactual
Dating reliability
C - Low

Interior and investigation

Investigations
Other (1965); Other (1989); Other (1998); 1st Identified Map Depiction (1888-1889); Earthwork Survey (1999-2000); Other (2007-2009)

Identifiers

Scheduled monument number
1007667
HER
Exmoor National Park MS09082
National record
record SS 94 SE 17; monument 36896
Wikidata
Q31115742

Sources

References

  1. Allcroft, A.H. 1908. Earthwork of England : prehistoric, Roman, Saxon, Danish, Norman, and mediaeval, London: Macmillan, 197-8.
  2. Burrow, E.J. 1924. The ancient earthworks and camps of Somerset, Cheltenham: E.J. Burrow, 84-5.
  3. Burrow, I. 1981. Hillfort and hill-top settlement in Somerset in the first to eighth centuries AD, British Archaeological Report (BAR) British Series 1, 91, 243-4.
  4. Grinsell, L.V. 1970. The archaeology of Exmoor : Bideford Bay to Bridgwater, Newton Abbot: David and Charles, 72, 77, 80, 87,155, 201.
  5. Page, J.L.W. 1890. An Exploration of Exmoor and the Hill Country of West Somerset: With Notes on Its Archaeology, 200-1.
  6. Page, W. ed. 1911. Ancient earthworks, The Victoria History of Somerset, Volume Two, The Victoria History of the Counties of England, London: Constable and Co, 484-6.
  7. Savage, J. 1830. History of the Hundred of Carhampton, 289.
  8. .