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Cow Castle

Somerset, England ยท Atlas EN4112

Cow Castle is a contour fort in Exmoor, Somerset, England.

Other names on the record: Ring Castle and Cae Castle.

It is recorded as extant, with a univallate rampart form, surface evidence of earthen bank, stone wall, and berm, and an enclosed area of 0.9 hectares.

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

The topographic record places it on a knoll or outcrop and at 305 m.

The aspect is recorded as level.

Recorded land use includes pasture, scrub or bracken, and heather moorland.

A scheduled monument number is recorded (1002955).

Location

Atlas number
EN4112 (4112)
Country
England
Current county or unitary authority
Somerset
Historic county
Somerset
Parish, community, or townland
Exmoor
National Grid reference
SS79453735
Latitude
51.12266
Longitude
-3.72396
Altitude
305 m

Form and condition

Type
contour fort
Condition
Extant
Morphology
univallate
Complete rampart circuit
Yes
Number of ramparts
1
Number of ditches
1
Possible original entrances
1
Breaks through the ramparts
2
Enclosed area
0.9 ha
Enclosing works, as visible
earthen bank, stone wall, and berm
Also recorded
ditches
Entrance forms
Passage-way/Corridor (South east)

Landscape

Topographic position
knoll or outcrop
Aspect
level
Land use
pasture, scrub or bracken, and heather moorland

Dating

Dating
undated
Dating reliability
D - None

Interior and investigation

Interior surface
curvilinear platforms and quarry hollows
Investigations
1st Identified Written Reference (1863); 1st Identified Map Depiction (1889); Other (1989); Other (1994); Other (2008); Earthwork Survey (1997-2000)

Identifiers

Scheduled monument number
1002955
HER
Exmoor National Park MSO6797
National record
record SS 73 NE 3; monument 34989
Wikidata
Q5179394

Sources

References

  1. Allcroft, A.H. 1908. Earthwork of England : prehistoric, Roman, Saxon, Danish, Norman, and mediaeval, London: Macmillan, 174.
  2. 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.
  3. Grinsell, L.V. 1970. The archaeology of Exmoor : Bideford Bay to Bridgwater, Newton Abbot: David and Charles, 76,85,86,89.
  4. Page, J.L.W. 1890. An Exploration of Exmoor and the Hill Country of West Somerset: With Notes on Its Archaeology, 95-6.
  5. 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, 495.
  6. Riley, H. 1997. Cow Castle, Exmoor, Somerset: an archaeological survey by the RCHME, Unpublished report RCHME.
  7. Tugwell, Rev. G. 1863. North-Devon Scenery Book, London: Simpkin Marshall and Co, 51-2.