A powerful Iron Age hillfort in Somerset long associated with King Arthur's Camelot — refortified in the post-Roman period at exactly the right time for a historical Arthur.
Cadbury Castle is a prominent natural hill in south Somerset, its summit enclosed by four concentric ramparts covering 18 acres. The site has been continuously associated with King Arthur's Camelot since at least the sixteenth century, when the antiquary John Leland wrote that 'the people can tell nothing but that they have heard say that Arthur much resorted to Camalat.' Whether or not an historical Arthur ever walked here, Cadbury Castle has a documented history spanning five thousand years that is extraordinary in its own right.
The hillfort was first enclosed in the Bronze Age, massively expanded in the Iron Age, and stormed by the Roman army around AD 70. Its most remarkable phase came in the late fifth or early sixth century AD — precisely the period when a historical Arthur might have lived — when the hilltop was reoccupied and the main rampart massively rebuilt using timber-laced stonework in the style of contemporary Welsh and Scottish defended sites. A large feasting hall of timber was constructed within the enclosure. This post-Roman reoccupation was revealed by Leslie Alcock's excavations in 1966–70 and remains one of the most significant pieces of evidence for high-status post-Roman activity in southern England. The site was reoccupied once more as a burh and mint under Æthelred the Unready around AD 1010.
The strongest candidate for a post-Roman high-status centre in southern England contemporary with the Arthurian period, Cadbury Castle is central to both the historical and legendary debates about sub-Roman Britain.
Early occupation of the hill including a Neolithic causewayed enclosure. Middle Bronze Age pottery indicates use before the main hillfort defences.
The massive four-rampart circuit constructed in phases. A major tribal centre of the Durotriges, with evidence of specialist craft-working and large-scale grain storage.
Stormed by the Roman army. A massacre assemblage at the south-west gate includes skeletons of men, women and children with sword cuts.
The summit massively refortified with a timber-laced stone rampart. A large hall constructed. High-status Mediterranean imports (wine and oil amphorae) indicate elite connections.
Reoccupied as a fortified burh and mint under Æthelred the Unready. Coins minted here stamped CADANBYRIG.
Post-Roman feasting hall and massively rebuilt rampart from the late 5th–early 6th century AD — the 'Arthurian' phase
A massacre deposit at the south-west gate with evidence of Roman storming
Mediterranean amphorae (wine and oil containers from the Byzantine world) indicating high-status connections in the post-Roman period
Coins of Æthelred the Unready stamped with the mint-name CADANBYRIG
Neolithic causewayed enclosure and Iron Age grain storage pits demonstrating continuous use of the hill across millennia
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