Maiden Castle (9)
Maiden Castle is a prehistoric fortification in Dorset, England.
The castle walls were steep, and there were four of them, one inside the other; the gateways were designed in such a way that any arrival had to wend his way between the walls. This place was reckoned by the Celtic inhabitants to be invincible. Nevertheless, the army of Vespasian was able to discover a weak point. The Romans fought their way into the castle and the native men, women and children were all either burnt or put to the sword.
This photo shows the great steepness of the encircling banks and ditches. In the course of the past 2,000 years the banks have been very much eroded and the ditches have silted yet they are still impressive. In ancient times the banks would not have been covered with grass; they would have consisted of bare, white chalk. Thus they would have looked quite stunning and would have been even harder to climb than they are today.
Maiden Castle is near Dorchester, in Dorset, England. This is one of several photos in this library which show the earthworks.