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Name: | Castle Downs |
Hill number: | 17592 |
Height: | 216m / 709ft |
Parent (Ma): | 19290 Hensbarrow Downs |
RHB Section: | 40: Cornwall & Devon |
County/UA: | Cornwall |
Catchment: | Minor Rivers only (South), Catchment Boundaries |
Watershed: | Land's End to John o' Groats, Land's End to Dover, The Lizard to Dunnet Head |
Class: | Tump (200-299m) (Tu,2) |
Grid ref: | SW 94553 62340 |
Summit feature: | tumulus |
Drop: | 67m |
Col: | 149m SW956628 |
OS map sheet(s): | (1:50k) 200 (1:25k) 106 |
Observations: | high point on inner ramparts 70m NNW at SW 94519 62397 is just lower |
Survey: | Abney level |
GPS data: | show GPS entries for this hill |
N.B. Some hill summits are on private property or on land where there is no public right of way. Permission should be sought from the landowner where access to a hill summit is through private land.
Please report via the contact page any logs you see below which describe or encourage acts of trespass. Please quote the hill number and hill name.
Logged Descriptions (logged by 28 users) | By | Date of Ascent |
Another sunny winter afternoon after supply teaching day in Newquay. A fine 3 ringed iron age hill fort - one of 1,224 in England (there's a list on wiki). No wonder as hill baggers we come across them so often. Built 8th C until the Romans. If only I had been stood here last week then as well as pondering the distant past, I could have witnessed a glimpse of the future as Cosmic Girl climbed overhead. Cosmic Girl being the adapted jumbo jet operated by Virgin that took off from nearby Spaceport Cornwall (that's what they call it!) aka Cornwall Airport, aka Newquay Airport, formerly RAF St Mawgan. Once airborne at 35,000ft it launched satellites by rocket into space, for the first time from UK soil. Unfortunately, the rocket suffered an anomaly (their words) and failed to deploy the satellites into orbit on this occasion. Cosmic Girl landed safely and is parked up awaiting another try. I guess our iron age ancestors must have had their own version of hiccups building their fort. | Chris Pearson | 20/01/2023 |
From the large dirt, mapped, car park. | jonglew | 11/07/2022 |
Very easy ascent from Castle-an-Dinas car park south. We were the only ones about on the hill. Good views but not much different to the nearby Belowda Beacon that we had bagged earlier that day. Afterwards we drove to Roche Rock which I would recommend if you like climbing rusty vertical ladders up a rocky outcrop with no health and safety. | DanTrig | 22/10/2021 |
walk around fort, high point nears interpretation board? | cjo | 05/04/2019 |
From car park. Good hill fort and ditches. Went to HP in centre of fort and came back via mound to be sure. | PeterD | 24/04/2018 |
Car park to the south as top is in a quite impressive hill fort called Castle an Dinas. | clivevilla | 12/11/2017 |
Parked as for Castle-an-Dinas then visited the tumulus then other top just in case with Iain Brown. | Dugswell2 | 11/03/2017 |
From s, car park signposted from road, as Castle-an-Dinas. 2 artificial grassy mounds 70m apart, vying for top spot, each 1m higher than surrounding ground. | RHW | 27/11/2016 |
Easy 200 yard stroll with my daughter from the surprisingly capacious car park to the S. High point is obviously the bump in the centre of the fort - higher than the fortifications themselves for once. 360 degree views & a topograph nearby. Lovely little hill. | wheresthepath | 28/05/2015 |
Visited whilst in the area geocaching. | CornishGazza | 13/10/2012 |
From car park at end of track at SW 94586 62064. 
Walking diary extract:- 'The car park for Castle Downs is down a rough track and round the back of a house or building of some kind. The weather was as bad as ever and I struggled with my boots in the front of the car. We set forth at last in the driving rain up a track to a kissing gate. Beyond the gate we dropped into a ditch then over a hump. These two features form the ‘ring’ of this hill fort. Walking towards the centre of the circle we came upon the obvious highest point and I took the obligatory summit photo.' | David Gradwell | 06/04/2009 |
Used to love visiting as a child, this place helped launch my interest in archaeology | JamesRodliff | 01/06/1995 |
Adrian | 14/07/2022 | |
malcorbett | 23/04/2022 | |
Matt | 07/04/2022 | |
sarahk | 17/10/2021 | |
Andy West | 04/09/2021 | |
jimbloomer | 10/12/2017 | |
BrianMatthews | 30/05/2017 | |
iaindbrown | 11/03/2017 | |
mae | 26/12/2016 | |
Jacqdaw | 02/05/2014 | |
Hillsidenick | 02/05/2014 | |
stevent0809 | 21/11/2010 | |
Dusty | 25/09/2009 | |
Edwin Gradwell | 06/04/2009 | |
George Gradwell | 06/04/2009 | |
IainT | 21/11/1998 |