Burley Wood motte and hillfort

Historic England's scheduling record (list entry 1018519) describes a motte with two baileys and an Iron Age hillfort with several lines of defence, side by side on a prominent ridge above the valleys of the River Lew and one of its tributaries, in Burley Wood. It lies in the parish of Bridestowe, about 2.7 km south-west of Bridestowe.

The motte is a circular mound 44 metres across and up to 4 metres high with two roughly oval hollows on top, ringed by a ditch up to 4 metres wide and 1.2 metres deep. Just west is a D-shaped bailey, 36.2 metres by 19.6 metres at most, enclosed by a rampart up to 8.5 metres wide and 0.9 metres high with a ditch up to 5 metres wide. A second, outer bailey lies north and west of it, 38 metres by 35 metres at most, with a rampart 3.2 metres wide and a ditch 4.9 metres wide. Beyond that an outer bank on the crest of the natural slope is up to 3 metres wide and 2.3 metres high.

The hillfort lies 36 metres south-west of the motte, an oval enclosure 144 metres east to west and 94 metres wide inside, defined by a double rampart and ditch. The outer rampart is up to 9 metres wide and 1.3 metres high. The inner rampart is up to 6.8 metres wide and 2.2 metres high. On the south side are smaller defended enclosures, two large quarry-like hollows, and five outer banks and ditches, the outermost linking two steep valley slopes to cut off the promontory. A farm building and a well were later put in the fill of its outer ditch, probably in the 19th century. The barn is now a field barn, and the barn and well are excluded from the scheduling.

Sources: Historic England list entry 1018519, which cites the Devon County Sites and Monuments Register (SX48NE5, 1987, and SX48NE6, 1992).

• Period: Iron Age
• Status: Scheduled monument (Historic England list entry 1018519)
• Grid reference: SX 4960 8741 (approximate, from the listing's coordinates)