Mounsey Castle Hillfort, Somerset
Mounsey Castle is a univalate hillfort of around 1.5 hectares, roughly tringlular in shape, and constructed on a promontory overlooking the river Barle. It plays ‘big brother’ to Brewer’s Castle, the small promontory enclosure which it overlooks. The naturally steep scarp of the promontory – which acts as a first line of defence – has been modified with the addition of a coursed stone wall up to 3 metres thick in places.(1)
There are inturned and out-turned entrances at the South West and North corners. The ‘neck’ of the promontory is crossed by a defensive outwork consisting of a bank and ditch, measuring roughly 25 metres in length.(2)
Another similarity shared between the two enclosures is the presence of a rough stone ‘pillar’. The Brewer’s Castle pillar has been characterised as a gate post, though the identification is not without contention. The pillar at Mounsey however, has come to feature in local folklore. According to one tradition it was dropped from the Devil’s apron as he was transporting material upstream to construct Tarr Steps,(3) a supposedly prehistoric clapper bridge three kilometres upstream (as the crow flies).
Slightly more reliable sources have, however, postulated that it could be fallen standing stone.(4) Cow Castle, another smallish Exmoor hillfort, provides us with a third example of an irregular stone pillar. This pretty much tips the balance in favour of the gatepost explanation – standing stones were not a feature of hillforts, but gates certainly were.
The ruins of a small rectangular building with a chimney stand within the enclosure, and are thought to be the remains of a charcoal burner’s hut.(5)
OS map reference: SS 8860 2950. Nearest town/village: Dulverton.
1. Burrow, I (1981). Hillfort and Hilltop Settlement in the First to Eighth Centuries AD. British Archaeological Reports 91
2. SSO1891 – Report: Riley H. 1999. Mounsey Castle and Brewer’s Castle: two iron age enclosures in the Barle Valley, Somerset. RCHME report.
3. Somerset Archaeology and Natural History : the proceedings of the Somersetshire Archaeological and Natural History Society 29, 1883 Page 62.
4. Burrow, I (1981). Hillfort and Hilltop Settlement in the First to Eighth Centuries AD. British Archaeological Reports 91
5. SSO1891 – Report: Riley H. 1999. Mounsey Castle and Brewer’s Castle: two iron age enclosures in the Barle Valley, Somerset. RCHME report.