Maiden Castle — Attraction in Winterborne St. Martin

"MAIDEN CASTLE"...

Also featured in " FLYING AROUND BRITAIN" (c) series produced in 2003...

As the sun rises over the mist covered landscape, the sheep can be seen on the steep defensive banks, awakening + walking in single file to pastures new, to that warming grass that covers the area.....

The quietness here is only marred by the gentle breeze, during winter time, a cold wind.....

'MAIDENS CASTLE', is the largest man made imposing structure in the south of 'ENGLAND'.......

"MAIDENS CASTLE" is noted as an ancient historically important landscape, which once supported a large community settlement, protected by the steeply banked ditches which you can walk around all day......The unique photographs, that are posted, give us a glance to times past. into the past, when life was harsh.......The settlement was well defended, but with a disciplined army, using military formation tactics, the Roman Legion Army, forced their way over the hundreds, (that have been excavated at the entrance), who vainly fought with their lives to defend the entrance at "MAIDENS CASTLE"...

Nearby is Dorchester's historic 'ROMAN AMPHITHEATRE' which you can sit in on the high circular bank...

'DORCHESTER' has a museum where a mosiac Roman floor can be seen...

"MAIDENS CASTLE", experience 'HISTORY', over a thousand years old...

What a place it is, excavated by hundreds of people, by hand, with 'IRON AGE' muscle..

"MAIDENS CASTLE"...

Photogenic at sun rise + sun set with scenic 360% misty wild views on the flat top...

Don't go there if you have dodgy knees. If your experience of hill forts is a little bank followed by a six foot ditch and another little steep bank, this is different. You climb the path up the roughly 30 foot bank, descend about 20 foot before climbing another 30ish foot to the top of the second ridge whereupon the final ridge becomes visible. Yet another 20ish foot descent followed by at least a 40 foot climb and then you're there. I shall not be invading anytime soon. Those are serious defences. At the top, the land is apparently bigger than 70 football pitches. The views are exceptional. There are the foundations of a Roman temple (so they were fit and energetic enough to invade) and some information plaques to read. Walking along one of the ditches is the best way to appreciate the scale of the defences. Just make sure you don't choose the one that leads to a dead end. That one took a bit of climbing to escape. It's worth it just for the exercise and the views. And if it's not enough for you, Poundbury hill fort is Les than three miles away and far less strenuous. Within a short walk from town centre is a Roman townhouse (closed until the new visitor centre is completed) and Maumbury Ring, a stone age henge that the Romans converted to the biggest amphitheatre that they built in Britain. Add to that the many museums in town when they reopen, and you will need more than a couple of days to get the most out...

I try to visit Maiden Castle once a year. It’s a fabulous place.

After an unremarkable drive along a single-track road, you arrive at the foot of the ‘castle’. It’s really a hill fort, but hey what a fort. It towers above you, with a series of huge embankment walls that enclose a grassy area (usually full of sheep). From these walls you get terrific views of a large chunk of Dorset including Dorchester. Ignore the distant road noise (there is some from the A35 when the wind is from the north) and just marvel at the uninterrupted 360 degree views and the countless and nameless folk who built this thing.

In summer it is a great place to see butterflies, marbled white are common there, but also to hear increasingly scarce farmland birds including skylark and one of my favourites corn bunting (listen for a birdsong that sounds like someone’s shaking their car keys). Last time I was there four kestrels were rehearsing their hunting skills, hanging in the sky as if on strings. It was quite a show.

It’s always windy on top which makes it a perfect place on a hot day, but equally in winter it catches the imagination.

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