1. Linney Head promontory enclosure lies at the western tip of Hobbyhorse Bay within the Castlemartin Artillery Range. The enclosure is defined on its east, south and west sides by steep limestone sea cliffs, whilst to the north a 32m length of bank and ditch crosses Linney Down, thus enclosing a promontory less than 0.1 hectares in extent. The bank and ditch are both very slight, the bank heavily eroded in places and ditch infilled. The ditch measures 5.2m by a maximum 0.7m deep and the bank is 4m wide by 0.3m high. It is clear, that coastal erosion has and is destroying the enclosure which is likely to have originally been larger. Other than bomb craters there is no evidence of any features within the interior.
The enclosure is previously unrecorded and is not depicted on Ordnance Survey Maps; its date is unknown. However, there is a strong possibility that it is prehistoric (Iron Age?), given the nature of the earthwork, together with its close proximity to the promontory fort of Linney Head Camp (NPRN 94226) which lies on the other side of Hobbyhorse Bay, 150m to the east.
A detailed survey of the enclosure was undertaken by RCAHMW in August 2008.
Louise Barker, RCAHMW, 24th March 2009.
2. Linney Head promontory enclosure was visited as part of the CHERISH Climate Change and Coastal Heritage Project in March 2018 and August 2020 at which date a photogrammetric UAV survey was undertaken alongside the adjacent Linney Head Camp (NPRN 94226).
The monument remains as described above, though continuing to erode. Waves overtop the limestone cliffs stripping the shallow topsoil down to bedrock, leaving a clear erosion edge and scattering small limestone pieces. Observed and photographed during CHERISH fieldwork were additional details of the promontory enclosure bank. Where erosion had removed the earth covering of the bank, traces of limestone walling were revealed, comprising both wall core and footing/facing stones.
Louise Barker, CHERISH (RCAHMW), February 2024
CHERISH (Climate, Heritage and Environments of Reefs, Islands and Headlands) was an EU-funded Wales-Ireland project (2017-2023) led by the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales, in partnership with the Discovery Programme: Centre for Archaeology and Innovation Ireland, Aberystwyth University: Department of Geography and Earth Sciences and Geological Survey, Ireland. https://cherishproject.eu/en/