The hill fort is situated approximately 3.2 miles (5.1 km) west from the village of Luccombe.

A series of earthworks survive in Berry Castle; it dates from the late Iron Age or early Romano British period.

[3] Hillforts developed in the Late Bronze and Early Iron Age, roughly the start of the first millennium BC.

It has been argued that they could have been military sites constructed in response to invasion from continental Europe, sites built by invaders, or a military reaction to social tensions caused by an increasing population and consequent pressure on agriculture.

They would be functional as defensive strongholds when there were tensions and undoubtedly some of them were attacked and destroyed, but this was not the only, or even the most significant, factor in their construction".