Hillforts Around The Axe Valley
2. Membury Castle

In the first article of this series we took in Musbury Castle. This hillfort overlooks the village of Musbury which is adjacent to the A358. We now continue north along this road in search of other hillforts.

For two miles the road goes over level ground before rising up the hill on which the town of Axminster has developed. During the Iron Age this hill was very probably crowned with earthworks, but these would have been obliterated as the town expanded over the centuries. We shall therefore head for the remote village of Membury which, like Musbury, is backed by a hillfort that has never been built over. This fort is called Membury Castle and overlooks the River Yarty, a tributary of the Axe.

To get to Membury from the top of Axminster, drive past the shops and turn left down a road named – appropriately enough – Castle Hill. You will pass over a bridge crossing the River Axe at the foot of the town and after a little less than a mile come to a T- junction called Four Cross. Turn sharp right and keep going. You are then on the Membury Road proper which snakes its way up the eastern bank of the Yarty valley. After about two miles you will come to another junction – Castle Cross – from which a road called Broad Down forks off obliquely to the left and brings you down to the stretch of the River Yarty around which Membury is situated. The church of St. John the Baptist abuts the left hand side of the road as you enter the village. There is a free car park opposite the church but anyone using it invited is to put some money in a nearby box as a contribution towards the upkeep of this delightful and fascinating village.

Membury is well known for its wealth of wild flowers and is also noted for its curious history which includes the activities of Hannah Henley who lived in the village and was supposed to have been a witch. She was reputed to have cast spells which caused the deaths of several villagers and their livestock before her own mysterious death in 1841. It was said that she was buried at Four Cross after her body was found sprawled on a tree outside her cottage, which was full of toads.

To get to the hillfort walk back to the bend in the road you drove over just before entering the village. Near this turning is a stile which gives access to a public footpath which leads up to the fort over fields. The path is interrupted by the Membury Road above which the ground rises very steeply. It is easier to reach the fort by walking three hundred yards down the road to where there is a more gentle path, which brings you up to the southwest entrance of the fort

The interior of Membury Castle is made up of a field of about three acres, half the size of the one at Musbury. It is encircled by an elliptical embankment containing a high proportion of chert rubble. Much of this was dug out from the western edge of the field leaving a ditch that can still be made out. The major Iron Age entrance is on the eastern side of the enclosure where the bank extends inwards in the form of a funnel, now partly obscured by trees and shrubs. This passageway enabled defenders to throw spears and stones down onto an enemy who tried to get through it after climbing the rather gentle slopes on this side of the hill. The attackers would have avoided the opposite side of the hill where the ground falls sharply.

Other gaps in the embankments were made in more recent times. One of these has been cut through the northern perimeter of the enclosure to allow sheep and cattle to graze in the field. Another gives access to the steep footpath that we avoided during our ascent but now provides an easy way down to the Membury Road from which you can retrace your steps back to the village. If you are wearing wellington boots then it is worth walking a few yards north along the road where a public footpath goes over damp meadows containing rushes and other interesting plants that thrive in wet habitats.

Unlike the fort at Musbury, Membury Castle has been excavated – but only in part. The archaeologists came up with several items which give clues to its ancient history, notably broken pieces of pottery (sherds). These remains tell us little if anything about what went on in the minds of the generations of Iron Age folk that lived around Musbury but we know that the ancient Britons were dominated by a religious hierarchy: the Druids. They indulged in human sacrifice, examining the entrails of their victims in the belief they could foretell the future from the nature of these organs.

The Romans detested the Druids and wiped them out. Their stronghold was in Anglesey where the Roman army was confronted by wailing women casting spells and screaming abuse. Anglesey is part of Wales and is a long way from the River Axe but not so far perhaps from the way of thinking of the infamous 'witch' of Membury and the villagers who feared her.






















Plan of Membury Castle. From Pulman’s ‘Book of the Axe’ (1875).