<< Our Photo Pages >> Stokeleigh Camp - Promontory Fort / Cliff Castle in England in Somerset
Submitted by theCaptain on Tuesday, 10 December 2002 Page Views: 12418
Iron Age and Later PrehistorySite Name: Stokeleigh CampCountry: England County: Somerset Type: Promontory Fort / Cliff Castle
Nearest Town: Bristol Nearest Village: Abbotsleigh
Map Ref: ST560733 Landranger Map Number: 172
Latitude: 51.456958N Longitude: 2.634668W
Condition:
5 | Perfect |
4 | Almost Perfect |
3 | Reasonable but with some damage |
2 | Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site |
1 | Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks |
0 | No data. |
-1 | Completely destroyed |
5 | Superb |
4 | Good |
3 | Ordinary |
2 | Not Good |
1 | Awful |
0 | No data. |
5 | Can be driven to, probably with disabled access |
4 | Short walk on a footpath |
3 | Requiring a bit more of a walk |
2 | A long walk |
1 | In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find |
0 | No data. |
5 | co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates |
4 | co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map |
3 | co-ordinates scaled from a bad map |
2 | co-ordinates of the nearest village |
1 | co-ordinates of the nearest town |
0 | no data |
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I have visited· I would like to visit
Mikesee visited on 12th Aug 2020 - their rating: Cond: 2 Amb: 5 Access: 3
TheCaptain visited on 28th Aug 2011 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 4 Access: 4 Iron age promontary hillfort on a spur overlooking the Avon Gorge from the high plateau at the western side of the Gorge, now a part of the large Leigh Woods nature reserve. This is one of three iron age forts here probably guarding a ford crossing of the river Avon at the bottom of the Avon Gorge, below where is now the Clifton Suspension Bridge. The promontary points towards the east, with the steep sided Nightingale valley marking the southern edge, where the hillside has been sculpted, with another smaller steep sided valley making the northeastern edges of the camp. The camp is completed around its northwestern sides by a double arc of massive ditch and bank ramparts, both once topped with stone walling. The main entrance was probably at the northern edge of the plateau, beside the steep cliff edge, where there is a third row of ditch and bank to help gaurd. I decided on a walk round Leigh Woods and to take in Stokeleigh Camp, on a showery bank holiday afternoon. Several things took my notice since my last visit here many years ago, firstly that it has all been tidied up by National Trust and much of the woodland cleared around the ramparts, making them very visible (I wasn't expecting to really be able to see them or get any decent pictures at all). I was most impressed with the massive size of the main ramparts, the inner bank being about 5 metres above the ground level inside, while the ditch outside must be almost of equal depth, making a top to bottom height of between 8 and 10 metres! Massive! Outside the inner bank and ditch is a second ring of bank and ditch, this time the relative heights and depth being about +/- 2 metres. At places around the top of the major rampart, there are places where stretches of vertical stone walling can be seen. In order to keep the vegetation down, NT and English Nature have decided to graze half a dozen Devon Red cattle around the camp.
Average ratings for this site from all visit loggers: Condition: 3 Ambience: 4.5 Access: 3.5
The promontary points towards the east, with the steep sided Nightingale valley marking the southern edge, where the hillside has been sculpted, with another smaller steep sided valley making the northeastern edges of the camp.
The camp is completed around its northwestern sides by a double arc of massive ditch and bank ramparts, both once topped with stone walling. The main entrance was probably at the northern edge of the plateau, beside the steep cliff edge, where there is a third row of ditch and bank to help gaurd.
I decided on a walk round Leigh Woods and to take in Stokeleigh Camp, on a showery bank holiday afternoon. Several things took my notice since my last visit here many years ago, firstly that it has all been tidied up by National Trust and much of the woodland cleared around the ramparts, making them very visible (I wasn't expecting to really be able to see them or get any decent pictures at all).
I was most impressed with the massive size of the main ramparts, the inner bank being about 5 metres above the ground level inside, while the ditch outside must be almost of equal depth, making a top to bottom height of between 8 and 10 metres! Massive!
Outside the inner bank and ditch is a second ring of bank and ditch, this time the relative heights and depth being about +/- 2 metres. At places around the top of the major rampart, there are places where stretches of vertical stone walling can be seen.
In order to keep the vegetation down, NT and English Nature have decided to graze half a dozen Devon Red cattle around the camp.
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