MSO9326 - Oldberry (or Oldbury) Castle, Dulverton (Monument)

An Iron Age univallate hillfort, on a high promontory above the River Barle. Only the northeast part of the defences survives well in woodland. The rest is incorporated in massive hedge banks, and the interior is under cultivation.

[SS 9093 2820] Oldbury Castle (NAT) Camp (NR). [1] Oldberry Castle is about 1.5 miles northwest of Dulverton, on a high promontory. It was originally an irregular oval, about 240 yards long and 100 yards at its broadest part. At the northeast and over the river there remains a bank of stones 7-8 feet above the present level of the outer ditch, which has been filled up with forest debris. Both the bank and ditch continue for 52 yards round the northwest side, and the bank in the same direction for about 130 yards, all trace of the ditch having disappeared under agricultural operations. Round the southeast face the bank continues for about 40 yards; the ditch having been filled up. All along this face the ground falls very steeply and seems to have been artificially scarped. Round the southwest all traces of bank and ditch have disappeared. [2] The area of the univallate hillfort is under 3 acres. [3] This is a univallate hillfort. The majority of the earthwork is now utilised as a field, the remainder being in a wood, where both the rampart and ditch survive. Elsewhere the only remains are a discontinous scarp along the outside of the modern field wall that follows the line of the rampart. Published 1:2500 survey revised.[4] Oldberry Castle at SS 909282 is scheduled as Somerset 331 under 'Camps and Settlements'. [5] Oldberry Castle has been badly damaged by ploughing. Defences only survive on the northeast, in woodland immediately above precipitous drops to the river. Here there is a single bank rising about 2 metres from the exterior ditch with a possible simple entrance giving access to the spine of a ridge running down to the northeast. The remainder of the circuit is incorporated in massive hedge banks, though the ditch can just be seen at the western corner. The interior is under continuous cultivation. Visited 1 April 1973. [6] [SS 90932820] Oldbury Castle (NR). [7] Oldberry Castle was surveyed at 1:1000 scale in April 1997. A full report, plan and land use/management overlay have been deposited in the National Monuments Record. [8-12,21] Much of the site has been incorporated into a field, the ditch filled and used as a hedge. The bank is 10 feet wide and 6 feet high, and the ditch is 18 feet wide in the wood. [14] Oldberry castle has also been mapped at 1:10,000 scale, based on the 1:1000 plan, and is visible on aerial photographs. [17-19] Oldberry Castle. [20,30] The entrance into the enclosure is not certainly visible. The entrance may be represented by the modern gateway at the western end, or the narrowing of the outer rampart and hollowing in the interior on the northern side. [21] The Scheduled Monument Condition Assessment of 2009 gave the site a survival score of 9. [27] Further vegetaion clearance work was undertaken in 2008/9 following on from similar work undertaken as part of the 2007/08 monument management scheme. [28] The site was surveyed in June 2015 as part of the 2015 Exmoor Scheduled Monument Condition Assessment. It was given a survival score of 9. [29] This record was enhanced as part of the National Record of the Historic Environment to Exmoor National Park Historic Environment Record data transfer project. [31] The site was photographed by P Bonvoisin in June 2014. [32] Vegetation clearance was undertaken as part of the 2018-20 monument management scheme [33] A management plan was developed for part of the Scheduled Monument in 2021 [34]