More information : SU 3850 8448] Letcombe castle or Segsbury Camp [G.T.] (1) Segsbury Camp or Letcombe Castle is a univallate (3) hill fort of 26 acres with an external ditch and counterscrap bank for 200 yards on the N.W. side. The original entrace, partly out-turned, is on the east side, the north and south sides being cut through by a modern road. The gap on the N.W. does not appear to be original. Sherds of Southern Second A and Southern Second B pottery have been found on the site (2) also coins of Tetricus and Maximinian (4). Scheduled (6) Crop marks are visible from the air, within the fort. (See 6") (7) (2-7) St. Joseph air photographs (AO/LP/63/133-6) show a much ploughed counterscarp bank outside the ditch. This outer bank has been still further ploughed, and can now only be traced on the north-west, west and south. The marks seen within the interior by Authy.7 are not visible on the ground in ploughed fields and kale. Surveyed at 1/2500. The whereabouts of the finds cannot be established. (8)
SU 385 845. Segsbury. Listed in gazetteer as a univallate hillfort covering 11ha. (9)
Letcombe Castle or Segsbury Camp. Description with plan. (10)
The crest/ditch vertical distance is approx. 5m. At the original entrance on the E side the end of the out-turn has been destroyed by cultivation, but clearly the ditch turned outwards as well. (11)
Recent aerial photography (12a) shows the hillfort being partially excavated in 1996. Within the main trench are indications of a hut circle and pits. Also visible are parchmarks of other possible hut circles. (12)
The possible Iron Age hut circles, visible as cropmarks on aerial photographs, referred to by the previous authority, have been mapped from the aerial photographs in reference 12. A cluster of seven hut circles, one only partially visible, is centred at SU 385 844, in the centre of the hillfort.
The results of the excavations visible on the aerial photographs in reference 12 have been published as well as the results of the previous seasons excavations. These excavations and a series of geophysical surveys found evidence of numerous hut circles and pits and the finds included Iron Age pottery, an inhumation, human and animal bones and some metalwork. (14-16)
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