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BATS CASTLE

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The earthwork remains of a substantial Iron Age univallate hillfort in Dunster Park, located on a fairly steep hilltop between Gallox Hill and Withycombe Hill. The hillfort is sub-rectangular in form, enclosing an area of approximately 1.4 hectares, and comprising a rampart and ditch with a strong counterscarp bank which has since been damaged. An outwork to the Hillfort can be seen some 200 metres to the south-east.

The hillfort has two entrances, to the west and east. The latter is unusual with flanking ditches and banks and it has been suggested in the past that this is a later addition. More recent interpretation suggests that both entrances are contemporary. A hoard of eight silver plated coins was found in 1983 comprising coins dating from 102BC to AD350. The hoard was spread across an area of two square metres and was found by schoolboys, so not systematically excavated.

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[SS 9881 4213] Bat's Castle Camp [NR] (1)

Bat's Castle, an approximately circular enclosure with two banks of stone and a ditch between, situated on a hilltop. The hill is steep on the north and south, but fairly level on the east and west. One entrance is on the west, where the bank turns inwards to flank the passage. On either side there are remains of masonry, but the mortar is modern in character. The other entrance on the east, is peculiar, with the pathway continuing eastwards for c.25 yards as a raised platform, with a ditch along each side and an outer bank. On each side of this entrance are indications of shallow pits, very like riflepits which have been dug in the outer surface of the bank (2).

Univallate hillfort (under 3 acres) (3).
[See Illustrations Card.] (2-4)

"Bat's Castle" is a hill-slope enclosure with strong defences which bring it into the category of a small hill-slope fort. Bothamley's description of the entrances is inaccurate. That on the west is slightly clubbed with some modern mutilation. No mortared masonry is now visible. The unusual east entrance with its flanking banks and ditches is also inturned. The "rifle pits" recorded by Bothamley are insignificant. It is probable that the earthwork to the east (SS 94 SE 18) is associated with this hillfort.Surveyed at 1:2500. (5)

[SS 988 421] Bats Castle is a strongly defended Iron Age univallate hillfort on a hill crest. The east entrance is unusual, and from air photographs does not appear to be original. The ramparts have been damaged in several places and partly pushed forward into the ditch. (Visited by Burrow 4.4.73.) (6).

Ford Johnson (7) considers Black Ball Camp (SS 94 SE 4) to be a satellite of Bat's Castle, but also (8) says that the earthwork to the south-east (SS 94 SE 18) together with Bat's Castle forms a probable crossbank enclosure. Rainbird-Clarke (in about 1938-9) claimed that the eastern entrance and southern outworks (SS 94 SE 18) of Bats Castle were civil war additions (seige of Dunster Castle - SS 94 SE 6) (9).

Bats Castle was called Caesar's Camp by Page (18).(6-9)

[ST 988 422] Bat's Castle, scheduled. (10)

[SS 9881 4213] Bat's Castle [NAT] Settlement [NR] (11)

Additional bibliography. (12-18)

SS 988 421. Bat's Castle. Listed in gazetteer as a univallate hillfort covering 1.1ha. (19)

Bat's Castle was surveyed at 1:1000 scale using GPS as part of the RCHME Exmoor project. The site lies on the hilltop between Gallox Hill and Withycombe Hill, at 200m OD. A small hillslope enclosure lies on Gallox Hill 600m to the northwest (SS 94 SE 4). The outwork to the southeast of Bat's Castle was also surveyed, and is recorded as SS 94 SE 18.

The defences enclose a sub-rectangular area 140x100m. They consist of a rampart and ditch with a strong counterscarp bank. The overall width of the defences is some 20-25m. The ramparts are very stony, with much loose material on the surface, and it would appear that stone extraction has taken place in the past. This would account for the rifle pits and "tourelles" described by Allcroft and Bothamley (2,12).

There are two original entrances. The western entrance is a simple passage through the defences, with an inturn to the south. The eastern entrance is more complex. The inner ramparts thicken and inturn. The ditch and counterscarp turn sharply away from the hillfort to forn a causeway 50m long and 6m wide. There is no reason to suppose that this entrance is later than the main defensive work, as suggested by Burrow and Rainbird-Clarke (6,9). A third breach of the defensive circuit is caused by the well established track which runs between the two enclosures to Withycombe Hill Gate (20)

Narrow ridging fills the interior. Preece (in the SMR) notes that these may be from growing potatoes here in WWII; the ridges are not visible on 1947 air photographs (21).

A coin hoard was discovered in the ramparts in 1983. It comprised 8 coins dated 102BC-350 AD. Details in SMR.

The hillfort of Bat's Castle and associated outwork were clearly visible on aerial photographs surveyed as part of the Exmoor National Park National Mapping Programme (26-27).

Additional reference. (28)

SOURCE TEXT

( 1) Ordnance Survey Map (Scale / Date)

OS 6" 1962

( 2) edited by William Page 1911 The Victoria history Somerset, volume two

The Victoria history of the counties of England (C H Bothamley) Page(s)484-86

( 3) Ordnance Survey 1962 Ordnance Survey map of southern Britain in the Iron Age

Page(s)45

( 4) Aerial photograph

AP (J K St Joseph CG.067)

( 5) Field Investigators Comments

F1 NVQ 02-SEP-65

(6) Aerial photograph

NMR SS 9842/1 SS 9842/2 SS 9842/4

(7) by Ian Burrow 1981 Hillfort and hill-top settlement in Somerset in the first to eighth centuries A.D.

BAR British series1 (1974) - 91 Page(s)243-44

(8) Royal Archaeological Institute The Archaeological Journal

(J Forde Johnson) 119, 1962 Page(s)86-87

(9) by J L Forde-Johnston 1976 Hillforts of the Iron Age in England and Wales : a survey of the surface evidence

Page(s)137,206,224-5,231-2

(10) Externally held archive reference

Card Index Catalogue of Exmoor Monuments (R R Clarke)

(11) by L V Grinsell 1970 The archaeology of Exmoor : Bideford Bay to Bridgwater

Page(s)72,77,80,87,155,201

(12) Scheduled Monument Notification

DOE (IAM) AMs Eng 2 1978 119

(13) Ordnance Survey Map (Scale / Date)

OS 1:10000 1974

(14) by A Hadrian Allcroft 1908 Earthwork of England : prehistoric, Roman, Saxon, Danish, Norman, and mediaeval

Page(s)197-8

(15) by D P Dobson 1931 The archaeology of Somerset

The county archaeologies Page(s)238

(16) by Edward J Burrow 1924 Ancient earthworks and camps of Somerset

Page(s)84-85

(17) by Nikolaus Pevsner 1958 South and west Somerset

The Buildings of England Page(s)158-9

(18) Somerset archaeology and natural history : the proceedings of the Somersetshire Archaeological and Natural History Society

Parish Surveys in Somerset 3: Carhampton No D3 (J Dixon) 3, 1980 Page(s)15

(19) James Savage 1830 History of the Hundred of Carhampton

Page(s)289

(20) John Lloyd Warden Page 1890 An Exploration of Exmoor and the Hill Country of West Somerset: With Notes on Its Archaeology

Page(s)200-201

(21) Field Investigators Comments

Riley H 1998 RCHME Field Investigation

(22) Vertical aerial photograph reference number

RAF CPE/UK/1980 3017-19 11-APR-1947

(23) by A H A Hogg 1979 British hillforts : an index

BAR British series1 (1974) - 62 Page(s)197

(25) Bats Castle/ink survey

(26) Vertical aerial photograph reference number

RAF CPE/UK/1980 4217-19 11-APR-1947

(27) Oblique aerial photograph reference number

NMR SS 9482/28 (DAP 6804/13) 15-MAR-1990

(28) Roger Kain 2006 England's Landscape: The South West

Page(s)56

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