LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade
Satellite Imagery
LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade
Satellite Imagery
Scroll left/right to view further images.
HER: Devon MDV1877 (None)
NMR: ST 10 SE 16 (188754)
SM: 1018851
NGR: ST17620401
X: 317605 Y: 104016 (OSGB36)
Bivallate and commanding contour hillfort located on hill top at S end of Upper Greensand ridge between River Otter and Luppitt Brook. Steep surrounding slopes. Flat topped and triangular shaped, with internal area 2.6ha. Generally bivallate throughout, with the inner bank c. 1.3m high internally and 8.3m externally and 4.5m across, with irregular crest showing best and upstanding on N and W sides, with slight traces of outer ditch in parts. Outer bank on N lies c. 15m-30m away across level berm with outer ditch, averaging c. 1.2 metres in height and 3.1 metres in width. On E and W rampart represented by scarping of hillside, but with no inner slope. Entrance near NE apex with substantial inturns to inner bank to give 20m passage and appears to curve to N through outer rampart. Modern track through banks on NNW. Small excavations as result of windblow by M. Todd 1990. Little found, but inner rampart on E side constructed of 2.15m wide by 0.4m chert blocks. Rough pasture interior and scrub. surrounds. Generally well-preserved national Trust site. On 1st Ed. OS map (1889). Undated.
Citizen Science: ✗
Reliability of Data: Confirmed
Reliability of Interpretation: Confirmed
X: -353032 Y: 6591230 (EPSG: 3857)
Longitude: -3.1713447931198457 Latitude: 50.82973208204867 (EPSG:4326)
Country: England
Current County or Unitary Authority: Devon
Historic County: Devon
Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland: Luppitt
Generally well-preserved national Trust site. On Heritage at Risk Register (2015).
| Extant | ✓ |
| Cropmark | ✗ |
| Likely Destroyed | ✗ |
Rough pasture interior, scrub surrounds.
| Woodland | ✗ |
| Commercial Forestry Plantation | ✗ |
| Parkland | ✗ |
| Pasture (Grazing) | ✓ |
| Arable | ✗ |
| Scrub/Bracken | ✗ |
| Bare Outcrop | ✗ |
| Heather/Moorland | ✗ |
| Heath | ✗ |
| Built-up | ✗ |
| Coastal Grassland | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
Bivallate contour hillfort located on hill top at S end of Upper Greensand ridge between River Otter and Luppitt Brook. Steep surrounding slopes.
| Contour Fort | ✓ |
| Partial Contour Fort | ✗ |
| Promontory Fort | ✗ |
| Hillslope Fort | ✗ |
| Level Terrain Fort | ✗ |
| Marsh Fort | ✗ |
| Multiple Enclosure Fort | ✗ |
| Hilltop | ✓ |
| Coastal Promontory | ✗ |
| Inland Promontory | ✗ |
| Valley Bottom | ✗ |
| Knoll/Hillock/Outcrop | ✗ |
| Ridge | ✗ |
| Cliff/Plateau-edge/Scarp | ✗ |
| Hillslope | ✗ |
| Lowland | ✗ |
| Spur | ✗ |
Dominant Topographic Feature: Hill top
| North | ✗ |
| Northeast | ✗ |
| East | ✗ |
| Southeast | ✗ |
| South | ✗ |
| Southwest | ✗ |
| West | ✗ |
| Northwest | ✗ |
| Level | ✓ |
Altitude: 261.0m
N/A
None.
Reliability: D - None
| Pre 1200BC | ✗ |
| 1200BC - 800BC | ✗ |
| 800BC - 400BC | ✗ |
| 400BC - AD50 | ✗ |
| AD50 - AD400 | ✗ |
| AD400 - AD 800 | ✗ |
| Post AD800 | ✗ |
| Unknown | ✓ |
| Pre Hillfort: | Possible barrow in interior, formerly site of trig point. |
| Post Hillfort: | None |
On 1st Ed. OS map (1889). Small excavations as result of windblow by M. Todd 1990.
| 1st Identified Map Depiction (1889): | OS map. |
| Other (1972): | Visited by Hillfort Study Group |
| Excavation (1990): | M. Todd. |
| Other (2013): | Visited by Hillfort Study Group |
Interior featureless.
None
| None | ✓ |
| Spring | ✗ |
| Stream | ✗ |
| Pool | ✗ |
| Flush | ✗ |
| Well | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
Interior featureless.
| No Known Features | ✓ |
| Round Stone Structures | ✗ |
| Rectangular Stone Structures | ✗ |
| Curvilinear Platforms | ✗ |
| Other Roundhouse Evidence | ✗ |
| Pits | ✗ |
| Quarry Hollows | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
None
| No Known Excavation | ✗ |
| Pits | ✗ |
| Postholes | ✗ |
| Roundhouses | ✗ |
| Rectangular Structures | ✗ |
| Roads/Tracks | ✗ |
| Quarry Hollows | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
| Nothing Found | ✓ |
None
| No Known Geophysics | ✓ |
| Pits | ✗ |
| Roundhouses | ✗ |
| Rectangular Structures | ✗ |
| Roads/Tracks | ✗ |
| Quarry Hollows | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
| Nothing Found | ✗ |
None
| No Known Finds | ✓ |
| Pottery | ✗ |
| Metal | ✗ |
| Metalworking | ✗ |
| Human Bones | ✗ |
| Animal Bones | ✗ |
| Lithics | ✗ |
| Environmental | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
None
| APs Not Checked | ✓ |
| None | ✗ |
| Roundhouses | ✗ |
| Rectangular Structures | ✗ |
| Pits | ✗ |
| Postholes | ✗ |
| Roads/Tracks | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
Entrance on NE with substantial inturns to inner bank to give 20m passage and appears to curve to N through outer rampart with 7m wide causeway. Modern track through banks on NNW.
| 2: | Modern track through banks on NNW. |
| 2: | None |
Guard Chambers: ✗
Chevaux de Frise: ✗
| 1. In-turned (North east): | Causewayed. |
Generally bivallate throughout, with the inner bank with irregular crest showing best and upstanding on N and W sides, with slight traces of outer ditch in parts. Outer bank on N lies c. 15m-30m away across berm with outer ditch. On E and W represented by scarping of hillside, with no inner slope. Rampart constructed of 2.15m wide by 0.4m chert blocks with plantation soil bank above.
| Area 1: | 2.6ha. |
| Total: | 2.6ha. |
Total Footprint Area: Noneha.
None
| ✗ | None |
| ✓ | None |
| NE Quadrant: | 2 |
| SE Quadrant: | 2 |
| SW Quadrant: | 2 |
| NW Quadrant: | 2 |
| Total: | 2 |
| Partial Univallate | ✗ |
| Univallate | ✗ |
| Partial Bivallate | ✗ |
| Bivallate | ✓ |
| Partial Multivallate | ✗ |
| Multivallate | ✗ |
| Unknown | ✗ |
| Partial Univallate | ✗ |
| Univallate | ✗ |
| Partial Bivallate | ✗ |
| Bivallate | ✗ |
| Partial Multivallate | ✗ |
| Multivallate | ✗ |
Berm between banks on N.
| None | ✗ |
| Earthen Bank | ✓ |
| Stone Wall | ✗ |
| Rubble | ✗ |
| Wall-walk | ✗ |
| Evidence of Timber | ✗ |
| Vitrification | ✗ |
| Other Burning | ✗ |
| Palisade | ✗ |
| Counter Scarp Bank | ✗ |
| Berm | ✓ |
| Unfinished | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
Rampart constructed of 2.15m wide by 0.4m chert blocks with plantation soil bank above.
| None | ✗ |
| Earthen Bank | ✓ |
| Stone Wall | ✓ |
| Murus Duplex | ✗ |
| Timber-framed | ✗ |
| Timber-laced | ✗ |
| Vitrification | ✗ |
| Other Burning | ✗ |
| Palisade | ✗ |
| Counter Scarp Bank | ✗ |
| Berm | ✗ |
| Unfinished | ✗ |
| No Known Excavation | ✗ |
| Other | ✗ |
| ✗ | None |
| ✓ | None |
Number of Ditches: 2
| ✗ | None |
Griffith, F.M. and Wilkes, E.M. 2011. In the footsteps of pioneering women: some recent work on Devon hillforts, In Pearce, S (ed). Recent archaeological work in South-Western Britain, BAR British Series 548.
Todd, M. 1992. The hillfort of Dumpdon, Proc Devon Archaeol Soc, 50,47-52.
Atlas of Hillforts:
Wikidata:
This work is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
and should be cited as:
Lock, Gary and Ralston, Ian. 2024. Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland. Available at: https://hillforts.arch.ox.ac.uk
Document Version 1.1