Castleman’s Hillfort, Castleman’s Hill, Trull, Somerset

Aerial photographs show clearly two large ditches cutting off the promontory of Castleman’s Hill. The centre of the hillfort is occupied by the present farm.

This enclosure has a mximum elevation of 65m O.D. and is positioned on a short promentorynear the end of a west facing scarpand lies about 30m above the floor of the adjacent stream valley. It occupies the southern part of an arable field, at the north end of which the boundaries of Trull, Bradford on Tone and Bishops Hull parishes meet. The western and southern sides of the enclosure are defined by artifical scarps which encroach on the steep slope of the hillside. The northern side consists of two cropmark ditches which cross an area of undulating plateau with a gentle westerly slope. The south-western part of the enclosure is occupied by the present farm and appears to have been completely detroyed.

The enclosure lies 1.5km south west of the River Tone and overlooks the river valley between Bradford and Wellington. Its location provides a view which extends from the Blackdown escarpment to the quantocks and includes much of the Vale of Taunton, the Devon borderlands west of Wellington and the southern slopes of the Brendons.

See PRN 16419 for an earthwork survey of the fort. This fort shares some similar features with that discovered in West Wood (PRN 54484)

Location

OS map reference: ST 188 223. Nearest town/village: Bradford on Tone.