Oldaport Fort

In the civil parish of Modbury.
In the historic county of Devon (Modern Authority of Devon, 1974 county of Devon).

Fortification of earth and stone walls on a spur of land at the junction of two small creeks, where they join a short arm of the river Erme. there are two periods of construction. Firstly a rectangular work occupying the north east end of the spur, and secondly a much larger work occupying the whole spur and incorporating all but the south west side of the smaller work in its perimeter. A stonewall defence survives 74.2m long, 3m wide and up to 2.7m high (This has been radio carbon dated in 2004 to early C11 and is now described as a late Saxon Burh). Excavation in 1968 found a samian sherd suggesting the early feature may be a Roman fort. It is tentatively suggested that the later feature may be a fortified port or even a fortified manor house. PastScape appear to date the manor house to the early medieval period (410- )

This site has been described as a;
Fortified Manor House
Urban Defence.
The confidence that this site is a medieval fortification or palace is Possible.
Masonry ruins/remnants remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SX63344934

Modern Map from Good for landscape form and features	Modern Map from Good for general location
Air Photo from	1st edition OS Map from

Sources of information, references and further reading

PastScape number; 441015

• Web site links
  • http://www.devonruralarchive.com/Oldaport.html
• Books
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• Journal Articles
  • Rainbird, P., 1998, 'Oldaport and the Anglo-Saxon defence of Devon' Proceedings of the Devon Archaeological Society Vol56 p153-164
    Farley, M.E. and Little, R., 1968, 'Oldaport, Modbury. A reassessment of the fort and harbour' Proceedings of the Devon Archaeological Society Vol26 p31-6
    Jope, E.M. and Threlfall, R.I., 1942, The Antiquaries Journal: Journal of the Society of Antiquaries of London Vol22 p65-8
    1938, Devonshire Association reports and transactions Vol70 p155-6
    Cottrill, F., 1935, 'The ‘fort’ of Oldaport' Proceedings of the Devon Archaeological Society Vol2 p213