Cliff Castles

Where other parts have their iron age hill forts - and indeed Cornwall has a number of these, most notably Castle an Dinas and Warbstowbury - Cornwall is unusual in having a vast number of cliff castles. These appear to be exactly what the name suggests, iron age fortifications on clifftop sites. But there is a puzzle. Mostly all you find is a curving rampart, perhaps quarter of a circle, from clifftop to clifftop. What useful purpose, you may well ask, did a fort like this serve. It only encloses a tiny area which surely no one would want to live in or even defend. There is a simple answer. When constructed, as hill forts with a view of the coast, they were as much as quarter of a mile inland. In 2000 and more years the coastline has eroded that much. Some of the smaller ones may not have been forts at all, merely fortified farmsteads. Be that as it may, they are now in stunning locations thanks to coastal erosion. Amongst my favourites are Treryn Dinas near Treen in West Penwith, the Rumps near Polzeath, Griffin Point near Bedruthan Steps and Trevelgue Head near Newquay. But take a look at the Ordnance Survey Explorer maps and you will find dozens, especially on Cornwall's north coast. When you walk the coast path it can be difficult to identify some for growth of scrub and bracken but it's worth trying.

Rampart of 'cliff castle' on Kelsey Head nr Newquay

More on some of these locations on my Antiquities page

Christmas