MSO9083 - Iron Age crossridge outwork and field banks southeast of Bat's Castle (Monument)

An earthwork is marked at SS 9904 4201 on the 1962 Ordnance Survey map. [1] A zig-zag bank of stones and earth, with a shallow ditch in front, situated about 140 yards southeast of Bat's Castle. Its total length is about 200 yards, and is 15 to 18 feet high. It is clearly of much later date than the camp and is probably one of the earthworks thrown up during the siege of Dunster Castle in the Civil War. [2] There is no reason to suppose that this earthwork is of Civil War date. From its construction and situation (out of sight of Dunster Castle) it seems improbable. It crosses the approach to 'Bats Castle' and, with its strong bank and outer ditch, is most likely to be associated with the hillfort. Surveyed at 1:2500. [3] This earthwork, of the crossbank type, together with Bats Castle forms a probable Iron Age 'crossbank enclosure'. [4] The outwork to Bat's Castle was surveyed at 1:1000 scale using GPS as part of the RCHME Exmoor Project. The earthwork lies 150 metres to the southeast of Bat's Castle. It comprises a bank and ditch, 170 metres long with an overall width of 15 metres, arranged in a 'zig-zag' across the ridge where Bat's Castle is at its most vulnerable. The bank is 1.5 metres high at its southern end, rising to 3 metres by the gap, which may well be an original entrance. [7-9] The outwork can be seen on most aerial photographs of the area. [12,13,23] There is a cross ridge spur defence, guarding the approach to the hillfort. The banks are 1.5 metres high and prominent. They are crossed by a trackway leading from the enclosure to Aller Hill. The earthworks are undisturbed. [14] The trackway has been cut through the earthwork. The earthwork is well preserved, under a good vegetation cover. There are no real clues as to its date or purpose, and although it is likely to be prehistoric, the angles of the earthwork are sharply defined. [15] Across the other end of the ridge to Bat's Castle is a sinuous rampart up to 2.1 metres high, with an external ditch up to 0.9 metres deep, both fading towards the ends. There is no apparent entrance gap though a zig-zag would be a defensible passage. The bank extends further than previously mapped. The work does not cross the entire ridge and its main purpose may not have been defensive. It may have been an advance display of the fort or a lookout, on the blind approach. Similar features are associated with Trendle Ring and with other forts on Exmoor. Running from close to the north end of the earthwork are two short lengths of field bank, one forming a third side of an area behind the main work, the other running away from the main work into an area of deep-ploughing which has destroyed it beyond. These are probably remnants of a prehistoric field system contemporary with the hillfort (See also MSO12261). [16] The outworks were rescheduled on 25th February 1994 with a new national number. The old number was Somerset 245b. [17] The Scheduled Monument Condition Assessment of 2009 gave the site a survival score of 10. [21] The site was surveyed in May 2015 as part of the 2015 Exmoor Scheduled Monument Condition Assessment. It was given a survival score of 10. [22] This record was enhanced as part of the National Record of the Historic Environment to Exmoor National Park Historic Environment Record data transfer project. [24]