Everything about Cranmore Castle totally explained
Cranmore Castle is an
Iron Age earthwork situated on a hillside above the
Devon Town of
Tiverton, in south-west
England, its
National Grid reference is SS958118. The earthwork is widely described in Guidebooks and Histories as an
Iron Age hill fort, though more recent
archaeological evaluations and Histories such as Mike Sampson's recently published work point out that it's seems inefficient as a fortification, since it's overlooked from the South by the higher slope of
Exeter Hill / Newtes Hill. The earthwork is also unusual in that it travels from 120 Metres above Sea Level to 170 Metres above Sea Level - this only makes sense when one walks the ramparts and sees the variety of views afforded by this unusual arrangement, it offers clear line of sight with
Cadbury Castle, Devon,
Castle Close below
Stoodleigh up the Exe Valley,
Huntsham castle,
Hembury Fort and other significant Hills and Earthworks.
The Hillside that Cranmore Castle stands above is called 'Skrink Hills' or 'Shrink Hills' in various earlier Histories of the area. The promontory of land that links Cranmore to the edge of Newtes Hill is traversed by the old Exeter Road, which travels past the earthwork on its way from Tiverton to
Exeter. The Hill and road were latterly known as
Exeter Hill, and this road almost certainly follows the path of a prehistoric trackway.
Current theories about the nature of the earthwork suggest that it might have been a winter enclosure for livestock or a market site, though the earthworks are very substantial for such applications and could even point to a Tribal
Oppida certainly the area would be large enough.
During the
Prayer Book Rebellion of 1549 Cranmore Castle became the site of a fierce battle fought between the two sides over whether a child should be baptised according to the 'new' religion or the old. The battle took place near a small chapel that stood at one corner of the Castle site near the road, the chapel was demolished in the 17th century, and in 1687 bones and musket shot thought to be from the battle were discovered.
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