Blackbury Camp

An Iron Age hillfort near Southleigh in Devon, built around the 4th century BC. The oval enclosure measures roughly 200 m by 100 m, defended by a rampart about 3 m high and 10 m wide with an outer ditch up to 12 m across. Its single south entrance was protected by a triangular barbican earthwork and timber gates, possibly within a gate-tower. Excavations in 1952-1954 uncovered a hut, cooking pit, oven, over 1,000 slingstones, Iron Age pottery, iron slag, whetstones, and spindle whorls. Managed by English Heritage, it is interpreted as a defended homestead of a wealthy Iron Age family.