Berry Castle, Somerset

Berry Castle (sometimes known as Berry Camp) is an early Roman (possible Iron Age) hillslope enclosure in the West Somerset district of Somerset, England. The hill fort is situated approximately 3.2 miles (5.1 km) west from the village of Luccombe. A series of earthworks survive in Berry Castle; it dates from the late Iron Age or early Romano British period.[1][2] It has been scheduled as an ancient monument.[3]

Not to be confused with Bury Castle, Somerset; Bury Castle, Brompton Regis; or Berry Castle, Black Dog.

Berry Castle
Location of Berry Castle in Somerset
LocationLuccombe, Somerset, England
Coordinates51.1924°N 3.6338°W / 51.1924; -3.6338
BuiltIron Age
Official name: Berry Castle

Background

Hill forts developed in the Late Bronze and Early Iron Age, roughly the start of the first millennium BC.[4] The reason for their emergence in Britain, and their purpose, has been a subject of debate. It has been argued that they could have been military sites constructed in response to invasion from continental Europe, sites built by invaders, or a military reaction to social tensions caused by an increasing population and consequent pressure on agriculture. The dominant view since the 1960s has been that the increasing use of iron led to social changes in Britain. Deposits of iron ore were located in different places to the tin and copper ore necessary to make bronze, and as a result trading patterns shifted and the old elites lost their economic and social status. Power passed into the hands of a new group of people.[5] Archaeologist Barry Cunliffe believes that population increase still played a role and has stated "[the forts] provided defensive possibilities for the community at those times when the stress [of an increasing population] burst out into open warfare. But I wouldn't see them as having been built because there was a state of war. They would be functional as defensive strongholds when there were tensions and undoubtedly some of them were attacked and destroyed, but this was not the only, or even the most significant, factor in their construction".[6]

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See also
  • List of hill forts and ancient settlements in Somerset

References
  1. "Berry Castle". National Monuments Record. English Heritage. Archived from the original on 3 October 2012. Retrieved 14 May 2011.
  2. "Berry Castle". Exmoor National Park Historic Environment Record. English Heritage. Retrieved 14 May 2011.
  3. "Iron Age defended settlement known as Berry Castle". National Heritage List for England. Historic England. Retrieved 31 October 2016.
  4. Payne, Andrew; Corney, Mark; Cunliffe, Barry (2007), The Wessex Hillforts Project: Extensive Survey of Hillfort Interiors in Central Southern England, English Heritage, p. 1, ISBN 978-1-873592-85-4
  5. Sharples, Niall M (1991), English Heritage Book of Maiden Castle, London: B. T. Batsford, pp. 71–72, ISBN 0-7134-6083-0
  6. Time Team: Swords, skulls and strongholds, Channel 4, 19 May 2008, retrieved 16 September 2009
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