Maiden Castle

If you're keen to visit Maiden Castle - be warned. You will need the strategic brilliance of a Roman Emperor to navigate your way around this site (or you can just follow the English Heritage signs). Dating back to 3,000 BC, Maiden Castle is the greatest Iron Age hill fort in Britain, covering an immense 47 acres.

When approaching the fort, attackers would have had no idea what lay in store for them: three concentric rings of ditches formed the defences and the entrance of the site was protected by a kind of maze. It was not until the Romans invaded in 43 AD that a bloodbath ensued and Maiden Castle was finally conquered... or perhaps not so bloody.

Despite early accounts vividly describing merciless Roman legionaries storming the fort and setting fire to huts, it is now no longer thought that the fort was besieged or violently taken. This discovery does not diminish the dramatic experience of Maiden Castle - wander around the giant ditches and ramparts and appreciate the remarkable size of the defences, as well as stunning views of the surrounding landscape.