Details

This monument includes an Iron Age defended settlement and associated
cultivation terraces situated on a hillslope overlooking The Burn, a tributary
to the River Dart. The monument survives as an oval enclosure defined by a
bank and ditch, containing building platforms, together with some cultivation
terraces to the south and south west and a single lynchet to the north.
Associated remains of Iron Age settlement have been recorded some 300m to the
east; these are the subject of a separate scheduling.
The enclosure measures 91m long north east to south west by 46m wide north
west to south east. It is defined to the north by a bank up to 4.5m wide, 1m
high internally and 0.4m high externally. Beyond is an outer ditch visible to
the north and west, although largely preserved as a buried feature, which
measures up to 9.6m wide and 0.3m deep. On the eastern side the rampart is
preserved beneath a present field boundary and skirts the top of a natural
slope; there is no apparent ditch on this side. Within the enclosure, it is
possible to distinguish the sub-circular shaped indentations of up to five
terraced building platforms, measuring up to 9m in diameter. To the south of
the enclosure is a cultivation terrace immediately adjacent to the rampart
which measures up to 11.5m wide and is defined on its southern side by a small
bank. This terrace runs parallel to the slope but is cut by and does not
extend beyond the field boundary to the east. To the south west is a further
cultivation terrace, up to 40m long and 25m wide running parallel to the
hillslope. It appears to peter out to the west and north. To the north of the
enclosure lies one further small length of lynchet up to 0.4m high and cut by
both the northern and eastern field boundaries.

MAP EXTRACT
The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.

Source: Historic England

Reasons for Scheduling

During the Iron Age a variety of different types of settlement were
constructed and occupied in south western England. At the top of the
settlement hierarchy were hillforts built in prominent locations. In addition
to these a group of smaller sites, known as defended settlements, were also
constructed. Some of these were located on hilltops, others in less prominent
positions. They are generally smaller than the hillforts, sometimes with an
enclosed area of less than 1ha. The enclosing defences were of earthen
construction. Univallate sites have a single bank and ditch, multivallate
sites more than one. At some sites these earthen ramparts represent a second
phase of defence, the first having been a timber fence or palisade. Where
excavated, evidence of stone- or timber-built houses has been found within the
enclosures, which, in contrast to the hillfort sites, would have been occupied
by small communities, perhaps no more than a single family group.
Defended settlements are a rare monument type. They were an important element
of the settlement pattern, particularly in the upland areas of south western
England, and are integral to any study of the developing use of fortified
settlements during this period. All well-preserved examples are likely to be
identified as nationally important.

The defended Iron Age settlement and its associated cultivation terraces 230m
south west of Cadeleigh Court survive well and will contain archaeological
information relating to both the construction and use of the monument, as well
as environmental evidence concerning the local area during the time of the
settlement's occupation.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Other
Devon County Sites and Monuments Register, SS90NW4, (1998)

Source: Historic England