Cranmore Castle

Cranmore Castle stands on a hillside above Tiverton in Devon. It is an Iron Age earthwork, a scheduled monument recognised by English Heritage. The site is unusual because the land it covers slopes from 120 metres to 170 metres above sea level. This slope gives clear views to nearby hills and earthworks such as Cadbury Castle and Hembury fort. It also overlooks the meeting point of the Lowman and Exe rivers and their forded crossings. The earthwork may have been used as a winter enclosure for livestock or a market site. Some experts suggest it could have been a tribal oppidum, given its size of over 15 acres. The Ordnance Survey Map of Southern Britain in the Iron Age shows it as the largest enclosure in Devon. During the Prayer Book Rebellion in 1549, a fierce battle took place near a small chapel that once stood on the site. Bones and musket shots thought to be from the battle were found in 1687. Visitors find an earthwork set on a sloping hillside with wide views across the landscape. The old Exeter Road passes nearby, following the path of a prehistoric trackway. The site is linked to Exeter Hill, which Thomas Fairfax’s artillery used during the siege of Tiverton Castle. The name Cranmore Castle may come from Thomas Cranmer, the archbishop involved in the Prayer Book Rebellion. The chapel that once stood there was demolished in the 17th century, leaving only traces of its past.