Posbury

Posbury Hill Fort is an unexcavated Iron Age Hill fort, located three miles from Crediton, Devon. [R.R.Sellman; Aspects of Devon History, Devon Books 1985 - ISBN 0861147561 - Chapter 2; The Iron Age in Devon. Map Page 11 of Iron Age hill forts in Devon includes Posbury.] It consists today of an incomplete earthwork partly enclosing a hilltop 180 Metres above Sea Level. A modern road cuts across the North of the hilltop.

W. G. Hoskins states that this is a likely site for Posentesburg, a battle site from 661BC in which, Wessex, the King of Cenwalh moved the native Briton tribes out of middle Devon to the coast. Today the Hill Fort's defense are best seen from the Bridal path, just to the North of Posbury St Francis convent. The nunnery occupies the original home of the Tuckfields, later the Hippisley family which was followed by the Shelleys of Shobrooke Park. In 1931 the Shelleys moves to Shobrooke, near Crediton. The Nunnery was founded by a Grace Emily Costin who took the name "Mother Teresa". Gold was supposedly discovered in a tree struck by lightning.

Just to the South of the hamlet there are the remains of an early Roman road, that ran from the newly discovered Roman Fort, near Colebrooke, in an eastward direction towards Crediton.

The new Windows Live Local has very good pictures of the local area.

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