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Maiden Castle is a Neolithic and Iron Age hillfort located near Dorchester in Dorset, England. The site began as a Neolithic causewayed enclosure dating to around 3500 BCE, but was later substantially developed during the Iron Age, between approximately 500 and 100 BCE, when a series of concentric earthen ramparts and ditches were constructed to enclose some forty-seven acres, making it one of the largest hillforts in Britain. The fort's elaborate defensive system comprises multiple banks and ditches on its eastern and western approaches, reflecting sophisticated Iron Age military engineering. Excavations conducted in the 1930s revealed evidence of Iron Age settlement, though the site was abandoned following the Roman conquest around 70 CE.
Maiden Castle is a scheduled monument protected by Historic England under reference 1015775. View the official record →
Maiden Castle is a Neolithic and Iron Age hillfort located near Dorchester in Dorset, England. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic England (NHLE) under reference 1015775.
Maiden Castle is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by Historic England (NHLE) — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in England. The official designation reference is 1015775.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Multi-period archaeological landscape centred on and including a slight univallate hillfort called Chalbury, two bowl barrows, part of a Bronze Age urnfield and a series of medieval strip fields (5.3 km), Group of barrows E of Northdown Barn (5.8 km), Barrow 200yds (180m) N of the White Horse (6 km).
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Research the area around Maiden Castle