Hillsborough, Devon

Coordinates: 51°12′32″N 4°06′11″W / 51.209°N 4.103°W / 51.209; -4.103

Hillsborough viewed from Ilfracombe harbour, late evening.

Hillsborough is a Local Nature Reserve in Ilfracombe, North Devon.[1][2] It is known locally as the sleeping elephant. It is also the site of an Iron Age hill fort atop the cliff on a promontory at approx 115 metres above sea level. The fort takes the classic shape of a promontory reinforced and cut off landwards by a large defensive earthwork.[3] The Ordnance Survey Map of Britain in the Iron Age shows Hillsborough as multivallate and one of the two largest enclosures in Devon along with Cranmore Castle at over 15 acres, since the size of the enclosure today is less than half this; this must be based on more than half of the enclosure being lost to coastal erosion.[4]

References

  1. ↑ "Hillsborough". Local Nature Reserves. Natural England.
  2. ↑ "Map of Hillsborough". Local Nature Reserves. Natural England.
  3. ↑ R. R.Sellman; Aspects of Devon History, Devon Books 1985 - ISBN 0-86114-756-1 - Chapter 2; The Iron Age in Devon. Map Page 11 of Iron Age hill forts in Devon includes Wooston.
  4. ↑ Ordnance Survey, Map of Southern Britain in the Iron Age (OS 1962)


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