Hembury Castle, West Buckfastleigh
Has been described as a Certain Timber Castle (Motte)
There are earthwork remains
| Name | Hembury Castle, West Buckfastleigh |
| Alternative Names | Dane's Castle; The Danish Camp |
| Historic Country | Devonshire |
| Modern Authority | Devon |
| 1974 Authority | Devon |
| Civil Parish | West Buckfastleigh |
Motte and Bailey set within an Iron Age hillfort. The castle is situated on the western summit of the hillfort interior. The motte consists of a central grass covered mound with an encircling ditch and bank, bailey and outer rampart. The motte is almost perfectly circular at its base, about 32m in diameter rising to an oval top offset to the south west quadrant and measuring 19m north east to south west by 11m overall. The remains of the bailey lie 18m beyond the mound. (PastScape)
Motte and bailey built into the Iron Age enclosure/hillfort. The mount is locally called Danes Camp. It has a hollow centre 3.6m deep and is ditched. The mound is 27m diameter and 6m high. This is surrounded by a level platform with a scarped edge descending to the level of the interior of the camp. It has been noted that the bailey has been 'mutilated by excavation'. The hillfort was probably utilised as an outer bailey. A mid 13th century document describes it as 'the old castle which was called Hembury'. It was possibly a campaign castle of the Norman Conquest, but is likely to have gone out of use soon after. (National Trust HBSMR)
This site is a scheduled monument protected by law
Not Listed
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s)
County Historic Environment Record
| OS Map Grid Reference | SX725684 |
| Latitude | 50.5017700195313 |
| Longitude | -3.79848003387451 |
| Eastings | 272540 |
| Northings | 68430 |
