Bury Castle (Somerset)

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The estate of Bury Castle

Bury Castle is a hill fort from the Iron Age and a castle from the 12th century near the village of Selworthy in the English county of Somerset .

history

Iron age

Floor plan of the Bury Castle estate

Bury Castle was built as a Promontory Fort over the confluence of the Exe and Haddeo Rivers . Wall castles were built at the end of the Bronze Age and the beginning of the Iron Age, i.e. from around 1000 BC. The reason for building fortifications in Great Britain and their purpose have been discussed many times. It was thought that they could have been the military response of the peoples of Britain to an invasion from mainland Europe, but they could also have been built by the invaders themselves. A third option would be a military response to growing social tensions arising from a growing population and the resulting pressure on agriculture. The main view since the 1960s is based on social changes caused by the increasing use of iron. Iron ore deposits were found in different locations than those for tin and copper ore (from which bronze was extracted). The trade structures changed and the old elites lost their economic and social importance. Archaeologist Barry Cunliffe argued that widespread wars were atypical for the period, but ramparts reflected the tensions of the time when defensive fortresses served as defensive fortresses when conflicts broke out and played an important political role for the new elites.

Bury Castle's hill fort covers an area of ​​0.2 hectares. The main fence has a simple wall and moat and steep slopes to the north, east and south. On the west side there is an additional wall with a deep moat. The wall is covered with a dry stone wall.

middle Ages

In the late 1130s, a civil war called anarchy broke out between supporters of King Stephen and Empress Matilda in England. A moth emerged on the site of the Iron Age hill fort; probably she had William des Say built. In 1198, King Richard the Lionheart appointed Brompton to Matilda's inheritance.

The moth is 23 meters high and was erected on the southernmost point of the ledge. The curtain wall is about 20 × 20 meters.

today

Bury Castle is now a Scheduled Monument and belongs to the National Trust . It is listed on the Heritage-at-Risk register because the growth of trees and scrub is threatening its existence.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Bury Castle . In: National Monument Record . English Heritage. Retrieved November 18, 2015.
  2. ^ Bury Castle, an Iron Age defended settlement, No: 24025 . In: Somerset Historic Environment Record . Somerset County Council. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved November 18, 2015. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / webapp1.somerset.gov.uk
  3. Jump up ↑ Andrew Payne, Mark Corney, Barry Cunliffe: The Wessex Hillforts Project: Extensive Survey of Hillfort Interiors in Central Southern England . English Heritage, London 2007. 978-1873592-85-4. P. 1.
  4. ^ Niall M. Sharples: English Heritage Book of Maiden Castle . BT Batsford, London 1991. ISBN 0-7134-6083-0 . Pp. 71-72.
  5. ↑ Time Team: Swords, skulls and strongholds . Channel 4. May 19, 2008. Retrieved September 16, 2009.
  6. ↑ Bury Castle . In: Exmoor Historic Environment Record . English Heritage. Retrieved November 18, 2015.
  7. ^ A b Bury Castle, Brompton Regis , Gatehouse Gazetteer. Retrieved November 18, 2015.
  8. ^ Robert Dunning: Somerset Castles . Somerset Books, Tiverton 1995. ISBN 978-0-86183-278-1 . Pp. 30-31.
  9. ^ OH Creighton: Castles and Landscapes: Power, Community and Fortification in Medieval England . Equinox, 2005. ISBN 978-1-904768-67-8 . P. 39.
  10. ^ Bury Castle, an Iron Age defended settlement, Selworthy, West Somerset - Exmoor (NP) . In: Heritage at Risk . English Heritage. Archived from the original on October 22, 2013. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved October 20, 2013. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / risk.english-heritage.org.uk

literature

  • I. & R. Adkins: A Field Guide to Somerset Archeology . 1992.
  • EJ Burrow: Ancient Earthworks and Camps of Somerset . 1924.
  • I. Burrow: Hillforts and Hilltop Settlements of Somerset . 1981.

Coordinates: 51 ° 1 ′ 53.8 "  N , 3 ° 30 ′ 57.2"  W.