Blackbury Camp

Blackbury Camp is an Iron Age hillfort situated near Seaton, Devon in England.

The ramparts are still relatively high, showing an unusual entrance feature. The Fort occupies the end of a large ridge at some 185 Metres above Sea Level but you cannot see the sea, which is blocked by one more hill to the south. The fort was probably occupied between the second and first Century BC by a cattle farming community.

The oval or D-shaped enclosure of about 2 hectares is now in open woodland and straddles a 180m steep-sided Greensand ridge capped with clay and flints. It was defended by a substantial rampart and ditch, with one entrance facing the southern slopes, the other gaps are recent. A triangular earthwork was added screening the gate - the so-called barbican entrance; it contained a central embanked passageway with a compartment on either side, probably used as stock pens.

Excavation showed that the main gate had been an imposing structure. The rounded rampart ends projected forward and were built up with flint nodules, retained by a timber palisade. Deep post-holes indicated the gate, probably with a bridge to link the ramparts. There was a second timber gateway at the entrance to the barbican. In the interior, the post-holes of a rectilinear hut were uncovered with a cooking pit nearby. Iron slag from the local limonite ores, whetstones and spindle whorls were found along with more than 1,200 sling stones. The pottery included decorated Glastonbury ware and some earlier plain Iron Age wares indicating that the fort was in use from the early 3rd century BC onwards.