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Ancient monument

Maiden Castle

Near Dorchester, Dorset

The largest Iron Age hillfort in Britain, and a disputed last stand.

Maiden Castle began as a Neolithic enclosure, then grew into a huge hillfort with massive ramparts. Its excavator in the 1930s described a Roman attack and a war cemetery.

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When
From c. 4000 BC
Where
50.6950, -2.4680
Group
Circles & monuments

Visiting

English Heritage, free and open all year.

Cover of The Ledger of Lost Britain by Cale Mills
Read the full story in the book

The Ledger of Lost Britain

The Romans arrived in AD 43. For most people that is where the history of Britain begins. But by the time the legions landed, people had already been living on these islands for thousands of years. They had hunted, farmed, mined flint, dragged stones across the country, raised a hill by hand, and buried their dead in great tombs. They left no written words. What they left was the ground itself. Every place in this book can be visited, or has been dug up, or is in a museum.

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