Scheduled Monument: Myrtleberry South Camp, a late prehistoric hillslope enclosure 440m south west of Waters Meet House
(1020806)
Authority
Department for Culture, Media and Sport
Other Ref
Devon 710; 33055
Date assigned
10 November 1969
Date last amended
16 October 2002
Date revoked
The monument includes a late prehistoric hillslope enclosure known as Myrtleberry South Camp which is located just above an east facing valley side above the Hoaroak River. It is considered to be Iron Age in date and thus broadly contemporary with the Iron Age multiple enclosure fort of Myrtleberry North Camp which lies some 450m to the north east, and is the subject of a seperate scheduling. The enclosure, which is sub-rectangular in shape with rounded corners, has been terraced into the hillside and is defined on three sides by a single bank and ditch. The bank has an average width of 4.5m and is 0.7m high internally and 1.6m high above the external ditch which is around 4m wide. The ditch has silted up over the millennia and is no longer visible over much of its length although it will survive as a buried feature and, where it is visible at the south western and north western corners of the enclosure, it retains a depth of 0.5m. The remaining eastern side of the enclosure has been formed by excavated material from the interior having been dumped downhill to create a platform marked by an outer facing scarp up to 5m wide and 2m high which
merges at its base with the natural slope of the valley side. The original entrance was probably on the northern face where there are indicative earthwork traces and a gap now occupied by a modern path; the gap which lies directly opposite in the southern face may have been created to facilitate the path and is thought to be modern. The interior of the enclosure measures about 80m north east-south west by 35m north west-south east, providing an area of about 0.28ha within which there are at least seven identifiable building platforms. Most of these platforms take the form of crescent-shaped stone-revetted scarps built against the inner western enclosure wall. They vary in their dimensions from 3m to 10m across and from 0.3m to 1.4m in height. All fixed information boards are excluded from the scheduling, although the ground beneath them is included.