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Roman Military Occupation at Hembury (Devon)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 March 2010

Malcolm Todd
Malcolm Todd
Affiliation:
Exeter
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Extract

The large hillfort at Hembury, near Honiton (Devon) is one of the most impressive late prehistoric sites in South-West England. Occupied in the Neolithic and Iron Age, it was taken over by a Roman force about or shortly before A.D. 50. Substantial timber buildings were constructed, including a probable fabrica, in which iron from the adjacent Blackdown hills was worked. The Roman site was abandoned by the early Flavian period and not reoccupied. Though not evidently a conventional fort, Hembury joins a list of hillforts in South-West England which were used by the Roman army in the early decades of conquest. These include Hod Hill and possibly Maiden Castle (Dorset), Ham Hill and South Cadbury (Somerset).

Keywords

Roman BritainRoman armyIron Age hillfortsHembury (Devon)Roman coinssamianChalbury (Dorset)
Type
Articles
Information
Britannia , Volume 38 , November 2007 , pp. 107 - 123
Copyright
Copyright © Malcolm Todd 2007. Exclusive Licence to Publish: The Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies

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References

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