Scheduled Monument: Iron Age defended settlement, Furzebury Brake
(1008809)
Authority
Department for Culture, Media and Sport
Other Ref
Somerset 206; 24031
Date assigned
04 April 1949
Date last amended
19 August 1994
Date revoked
The monument includes a small univallate enclosure representing an Iron Age defended settlement, situated on a slight knoll at the end of a ridge. The ground slopes away to the cliffs above the Bristol Channel to the north, and to the edge of a steep combe on the east and south. The enclosure is oval-shaped, with an internal area of 0.22ha. It is enclosed by a bank up to 0.5m high internally and a ditch up to 0.5m deep, which are heightened by the slope to form a defence of up to 1.8m high. The earthworks have been much damaged so that the bank is missing in places and the ditch only faintly visible except on the east. Of the three breaks in the rampart, that to the north appears most likely to
be original, whilst those on the north east and west are probably later. The interior of the enclosure is naturally higher than the surrounding ground, but slopes down to the north, leaving the highest point of the knoll slightly off-centre in the south east of the enclosure. This appears to have been levelled, creating a vaguely circular platform of about half the diameter of the enclosure. Excluded from the scheduling are all modern fence posts, although the ground beneath is included.