Blacker’s Hill

Blacker’s Hill is a promontory fort, protected by still impressive earthworks on the north and west, but otherwise defended by steep (and steepened) slopes. There are three entrances, but it’s not clear how many of these are original – the fields have been changed about over the years and there’s been some quarrying too. Perhaps there was just one to the NE. Springs and a stream run along the south of the fort, and there are various barrows nearby to the north. The site’s been excavated and ‘geophysed’ – you can read about it and the nearby barrows
here at the Somerset Historic Environment Record. A 1950s excavation found traces of smelted iron in one of the ditches, and the geophysics detected several enclosures, linear boundaries, roundhouses and pits: different phases of the fort’s use. Sounds like a busy community – something to think about if you choose to visit.