Tor-Gro

Iron Age Hillfort

North Hill Tor Camp is the site of a defended enclosure that is believed to date back to the Iron Age period, around 800 BC to AD 43. The enclosure is located on a narrow coastal promontory above the sea, forming part of the defensive circuit. The site takes advantage of a natural rock outcrop that juts out on the cliff line for defense, with the defended area lying on the southeast side of the rocks, on the shoulder of the spur.

The inner rampart of the enclosure rises to a maximum height of about 2.5 meters above the interior, although it almost disappears at the southern end, where there may be an entrance. The maximum distance from the crest of the bank to the bottom of the ditch, which lacks a berm (a flat area between the bank and the ditch), is about 4.5 meters on the east side. The bottom of the ditch is not always significantly below the natural ground surface, although the outer (counterscarp) bank, which is about 1.5 meters high, gives an illusion of depth. It is possible that some of the material used for constructing both banks may have come from leveling the interior. The outer bank, however, is difficult to see clearly.

The site’s defensive features, including the natural rock outcrop and the constructed inner rampart and ditch, suggest that it was strategically chosen for its defensible location. The use of the natural terrain and the construction of defensive earthworks indicate that North Hill Tor Camp was likely a fortified settlement or homestead during the Iron Age, providing protection to its inhabitants from potential threats.

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