Creech Hill

Hillfort
ST668362

Also known as:

Monument No. 199901

Nearest town:

Shepton Mallet (8km NW)

OS reference:

ST668362

OS sheet:

183

Latitude:

51° 7' 24.78 N

Longitude:

2° 28' 28.01 W

Added to TMA by

Rhiannon

Images (1)
Folklore (1)
Miscellaneous (1)

Images

Image of Creech Hill (Hillfort) by juamei

Image Credit: Environment Agency copyright and/or database right 2015.

Image credit: Open Source Environment Agency LIDAR

juamei Mar 25, 2018

Articles

Creech Hill

Hillfort

Rhiannon Feb 3, 2005

There is an early Iron Age fort or enclosure up here, but the general area was used many times over in ‘Ancient Times’: the Somerset Historic Environment Record suggests it was used in Neolithic and Bronze age times for a flint working site, and later there was a Roman temple (now languishing under a radio mast building).

Ruth Tongue collected a story about a ‘Bullbeggar’ here (an unusual and ill-defined supernatural terroriser) in 1906. Late travellers told of footsteps following them and a gruesome black shape that suddenly leapt over the hedge at them.

In the 1880s two crossed bodies were dug up in quarrying operations, and crumbled to dust when they were exposed to the air. For some unexplained reason they were supposed to have been a Saxon and a Norman, and after this finding, Creech Hill had a bad name and was supposed to be haunted by following footsteps and a black uncanny shape. A farmer coming home late one night saw a figure lying on the road and went to its help. It suddenly shot up to an uncanny height and chased him to his own threshold. His family ran to his rescue and saw it bounding away with wild laughter. Another night traveller was attacked on Creech Hill and held his own from midnight to cockrow with the help of an ashen staff.

From Tongue’s ‘Somerset Folklore’ 1965. Ash of course is excellent protection against fairies and their ilk – if you can get rowan that’s even better.

Creech Hill

Hillfort

Chance Jun 3, 2014

Details of hillfort on Pastscape

A slight univallate hillfort at Fox Covert situated at the west end of a steep sided spur. The earthworks enclose approximately 3.25 hectares and are for the most part determined by the natural contours, except at the east end where they cut across the spur. The approach at the east end is almost level and the defences here include a substantial outer ditch 7.5 metres wide, that was recorded as being 1.8 metres deep in 1875, but has since been largely backfilled with modern building material. Behind the ditch is a slight bank about 0.3 metres high which has been much reduced by ploughing. There are two gaps in the defences on this side, one of which may represent an original entrance. The remainder of the defences run along or just below the edge of the spur. On the north and west sides these consist of a scarp, a ditch and a low counterscarp bank. These terminate on the west side at a point of later quarrying and survives best on the north side where the ditch is approximately 3 metres wide. The counterscarp bank is up to 3 metres wide and 1 metre high in places, although elsewhere it is only 0.3 metres high. The south and south west sides are formed by simple scarping. This is clearly in evidence on the south side but is less pronounced on the south west side. Scheduled.