Berry Castle

Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places

Explore this list entry

Overview

Romano-British enclosure called Berry Castle, 460m west of Queen Dart Cross.
Heritage Category:
Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:
1002539
Date first listed:
01-Aug-1961

Have you got a photo to share?

Join the Missing Pieces Project. We want you to share your photos and memories.

Location

Location of this list entry and nearby places that are also listed. Use our map search to find more listed places. 

There is a problem

Use of this mapping is subject to terms and conditions .

This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale.

What is the National Heritage List for England?

The National Heritage List for England is a unique register of our country's most significant historic buildings and sites. The places on the list are protected by law and most are not open to the public.

The list includes:

Icon Buildings
Icon Scheduled monuments
Icon Parks and gardens
Icon Battlefields
Icon Shipwrecks

Find out more about listing

Local Heritage Hub

Unlock and explore hidden histories, aerial photography, and listed buildings and places for every county, district, city and major town across England.

Discover more

Official list entry

Heritage Category:
Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:
1002539
Date first listed:
01-Aug-1961

Location

The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.

County:
Devon
District:
North Devon (District Authority)
Parish:
Witheridge
National Grid Reference:
SS 83449 17061

Summary

Romano-British enclosure called Berry Castle, 460m west of Queen Dart Cross.

Reasons for Designation

The Romano-British enclosure called Berry Castle is an unusual monument. The ditch survives as a largely buried feature and the banks are also clearly visible. The rectangular shape with distinctive ‘playing card’ corners suggests a strong Roman influence regarding its construction, whilst it does not appear to conform precisely to any specific Roman monument class. It is a defensive structure, possibly a defended farm or small scale settlement. Despite some cutting of the southern ditch by the road it survives well and will contain important archaeological and environmental evidence relating to its construction, function, development, use, date and landscape context.

History

See Details.

Details

This record was the subject of a minor enhancement on 5 November 2015. The record has been generated from an "old county number" (OCN) scheduling record. These are monuments that were not reviewed under the Monuments Protection Programme and are some of our oldest designation records.

The monument includes a Romano-British enclosure situated on a ridge between the valleys of the Little Dart River and a tributary to it. The enclosure survives as a rectangular enclosure with rounded corners measuring up to 26m long by 19m wide internally, defined by a rampart, wide ditch and counterscarp bank. There is a causewayed entrance on the eastern side and the southern ditch has been partially cut by a road.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:
DV 470
Legacy System:
RSM - OCN

Sources

Other
PastScape Monument No:- 35599

Legal

This monument is scheduled under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 as amended as it appears to the Secretary of State to be of national importance. This entry is a copy, the original is held by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

Ordnance survey map of Berry Castle

Map

This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 05-Jun-2026 at 12:37:10.

Download a full scale map (PDF)
© Crown copyright [and database rights] 2026. OS AC0000815036. Use of this mapping is subject to Terms and Conditions.

End of official list entry

All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.

Previous Overview
Next Comments and Photos