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Remains of promontory fort. Situated on a promontory with sides formed by precipitous cliffs and linked to the mainland by an isthmus no more than 4m wide, it is a multi-phase site comprising (1) the remains of a vitrified fort consisting of a double rampart on the west, a single rampart on the north (2) the site of a medieval castle at NJ 8378 6617 and consisting of a small keep, and (3) Fort Fiddes, a late 17th century coastal battery, the surviving defence comprising a spread earthen bank about 1.2m in maximum height. The initial defence was on the knoll, the landward point of the promontory and consisted of at least one palisade, probably built in the early 1st millennium BC. Around the 4th century BC the Knoll was refortified with a vertical wall of stone and timber and an elaborate gateway. There is considerable evidence of metalworking within the defended area with working bowls and hearths, with a complete crucible found beside one of the hearths. Some time after 100 BC a timber-laced rampart was built which was destroyed by a fierce fire. A fourth phase saw the cutting of two flat-bottomed ditches across the promontory at the junction of the Knoll and the main area. Excavations were carried out in the 1967-71 by JC Greig to investigate the west rampart and open an area within the northeast corner of the Iron Age occupation. A number of trenches were back-filled after excavation, the remainder were left open at the request of the landowner the Late Watt Taylor. The knoll also has the remains of a medieval castle/hall house built in the 12th century, with the remains of a with cobbled courtyard and later kitchen wing to the east. The site was refortified in the 17th century as an artillery defence, Fort Fiddes. There is also an 18th century bowling green and a 20th century coastal observation post from the last wars. The larger flat area of the promontory has been ploughed in the 19th and early 20th century according to an estate map. Radiocarbon dating of posts from the Phase 3 gateway have been radiocarbon dated to 750-200 BC. Dendrochronology of samples also indicates dates in the third quarter of the first millennium BC. Early cobbling cut by later ditches. Subsequent occupations superimposed on earlier occupations. Furnace overlies post-holes of ring ditch house. Site visit in 2022 as part of the SCAPE Coastal Zone Assessment Survey recorded the remains of a small concrete building at NJ8374666138, west of the Old Quay, its date unknown. Two buildings are shown at this location on the OS 1st edition map.
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Historic Environment Records (HER)