About the Monument

Castle Dore is a small multivallate hillfort, surviving as a roughly circular central area defined by a well-constructed inner rampart and ditch. A partial excavation of the hillfort interior by CA Raleigh-Radford in 1936-7 provided a 5th – 4th centuries BC construction date (based on ceramic evidence), followed by a period of abandonment after which the entrance area was remodelled (probably in the 4th – 3rd centuries BC).

The interior contained a number of four to six post structures and the remains of some round houses, defined by stake holes indicating a complex building sequence with frequent replacements of structures over a prolonged period. Two oval structures may also represent Romano-British or later occupation, although the pottery assemblage seems to indicate abandonment before the Roman period.

Excavated evidence also revealed the presence of finds relating to the battle between Charles I and the Earl of Essex, fought at Castle Dore during the Civil War when in 1644 Parliamentarian forces retreated into the earthworks and held the position until dark. As a result, Castle Dore is a registered battlefield as well as a scheduled monument. 

Why the repairs were needed?

Through the Monumental Improvement project, the Cornwall Archaeological Unit were commissioned to carried out a programme of work to help assess the hillfort’s condition and develop management proposals for the site. This included a desktop assessment and detailed earthwork survey. As the site is currently listed on the Heritage at Risk Register as a result of erosion caused by stock, these management proposals were largely focused around fixing the eroded areas with the aim of securing the sites removal from the At Risk Register.

What repairs were carried out?

• Preliminary recording of the eroded areas
• Lift any turf growing in the eroded hollow and reserve for use in re turfing the repaired areas
• Trowel clean and record the eroded surface
• Spread a marker layer of white sand over the base of the erosion scar
• If required, insert timber revetments into the erosion scar to help retain filling material
• Loosely fill hessian sandbags with subsoil-type material
• Lay subsoil-filled sandbags over the eroded areas, packing closely together and compacting well to produce a firm surface
• Fill the eroded hollows to a level which matches reasonably well with the level of the un-eroded parts of the rampart to either side
• Cover sandbags with a thin layer of topsoil
• Replace any reserved turf over the repaired areas and sow an appropriate grass seed mix over the rest of the surface
• Lay hessian netting, pinned down using wooden stakes, over the repaired areas to protect them from the elements

In addition, the team also removed some small and dead trees from the monument which were affecting the largest area of erosion. We also re-sited the interpretation panel and installed an accessible kissing gate nearer the main road making the site more noticeable, furthermore we relocated a water trough and created a new gateway in order to encourage cattle away from the monument.

What’s Next?

We will be collating digital assets for this site including drone imagery, a 360-degree video, a 3D photogrammetry model and a reconstruction illustration of what the site may have looked like. All of these assets will create digital interpretation for the site giving people a greater understanding of the monuments significance.

A special thank you to the landowner as well as Treleaven Countryside Services who supported the repairs.

Thank you also to our team of monumental volunteers who helped with the conservation works!