Denbury

Nearest town:
Newton Abbot (5km NE)
OS reference:
SX817686
OS sheet:
202
Latitude:
50° 30' 16.57 N
Longitude:
3° 40' 6.31 W
Added to TMA by

Images

Image of Denbury (Hillfort) by juamei

Image Credit: Environment Agency copyright and/or database right 2015.

Image credit: Open Source Environment Agency LIDAR
juamei
juamei Mar 25, 2018
Image of Denbury (Hillfort) by dude from bude

Embanked entrance at the southern end of Denbury hillfort Which leads to a classic ‘Banjo’ enclosure.

Image credit: Dude from Denbury
D
dude from bude Apr 13, 2008

Articles

Denbury

C
CARL May 9, 2011

Visited 5.5.11
I parked on the outskirts of Denbury village, outside some houses, in Denbury Down Lane.
Opposite is the track that leads directly to the Hillfort. DO NOT try to drive up this track.
A lovely 10 minute walk takes you up to the Hillfort; the hedgerows full of flowers, birds singing, Denbury church bells peeling away in the distance – it felt like stepping back in time!
There is public access to the site as the gate at the top of the track informs you that this is indeed Denbury Hillfort (please close the gate).
On going through the gate you are immediately confronted by a large rampart – perhaps 3 metres in height. I followed the path in an anti-clockwise direction and walked the entire circumference of the Hillfort – it doesn’t take long. There is a path which runs around the outer ditch and another which runs around the interior of the Hillfort.
The defences to the North West are the best preserved; some as high as 5 metres.
The rest of the rampart varies in height from about 2 to 6 metres in height.
There are good views to be had and I would highly recommend a visit to this site when you are in the area – don’t forget to check out the two Barrows – easy to spot.

Folklore

Denbury
Hillfort
Rhiannon
Rhiannon Jan 16, 2007

Denbury Hill, or Denbury Down, has an encampment. There is also to be seen an ancient stone, with all the markings thereon, with which the Danes sharpened their weapons of war. Treasure is said to be hidden there, and these two rhymes are current:

“When Exeter was a furzey down,
Denbury was a borough town.”

“If Denbury Down was levelled fair,
Denbury could plough with a golden share.”

This information was taken from the Illustrated Western Weekly News, 5 August, 1911, p24, and quoted in Notes on English Folklore
J. B. Partridge
Folklore, Vol. 28, No. 3. (Sep. 30, 1917), pp. 311-315.

Folklore

Denbury
Hillfort
Rhiannon
Rhiannon Oct 1, 2006

“’They’ say that a king is buried on Denbury, and among several couplets one goes:
‘Whoever delves in Denbury Down
Is sure to find a golden crown’.”

This comes from Tristram Risdon’s ‘Chorographical Description.. Devon,’ written in the early 17th century, and quoted in ‘The Folklore of Devon’ by Theo Brown, in Folklore, Vol. 75, No. 3. (Autumn, 1964), pp. 145-160.

Topics

Multi-use saying 5
Mr Hamhead
Mr Hamhead
Jan 2007

Sites within 20km of Denbury

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