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drolaf visited on 2nd Jul 2024 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 4 Access: 3 a large site the size only realised on visiting. ditches about 2m in quite good condition. on a flat site on the hillside. orientated with entrance to east on west east running hillside and valley.

Anne T visited on 30th Jul 2014 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 4 Access: 3 We ran out of time to see this site on 11th July, when we visited Thorborough Henges and West Agra (we got thoroughly distracted by the tremendous rock art at the latter), so took advantage of a trip down to Nottingham to detour via North Yorkshire and Swaledale to visit Maiden Castle. Signs of the recent Tour de France were everywhere in this area (lots of yellow bunting and yellow bicycles, and spray-painted signs of encouragement to the riders on the roads). We stopped off in picturesque Reeth for lunch, then headed off southwards through the village of Grinton, turning west down a small narrow road with views of the river Swale to the north. This single track road runs for about 2km past ‘Bleak House’ and Harkerside Place. There are a number of footpaths and bridleways which run past Maiden Castle, but we picked the westernmost one, just past the fort, where there is a small parking area, sufficient for 4 or 5 cars. From the car park, there is clearly marked path which runs (quite steeply) up past the western edge of the fort. As we were putting on our walking boots, two walkers were coming down and commented that the fort was ‘very well preserved; well worth seeing’. I don’t like steep slopes or drops, but the path was relatively easy, and I needed a helping hand in only one or two rocky parts. The fort was virtually invisible from the path, and is strangely situated part-way up the hillside. About 200 metres up the slope, the wsestern ditches of the fort suddenly come into view, then a few more paces open up a vista across the whole of the fort area. Turning to look back down the path, there are stunning views across the Swale valley and to the villages of Healaugh and Reeth across the valley. There is a clear ditch and bank surrounding the fort; from the footpath to the west of the fort, it’s relatively easy to negotiate the ditch and bank easily (husband like a mountain goat, me picking my way gingerly), and ended up in a quiet, gentle spot, out of the wind and spotting rain. The brush underfoot wasn’t like other sites I’ve visited – the interior of the fort had what appeared to be low growing box plants with ferns, and we used sheep tracks to navigate from one point to the next within the fort area to avoid prickled ankles. At the southern end of the fort, where the slope drops steeply into the valley, there are quite a few tumbled stones, as if the fort had an outer wall at some point. Before we visited, I had come across, and downloaded, the Durham University Archaeological Services report on Maiden Castle and West Hagg (geophysical surveys, report 2631, May 2011), which is available on the web when typing in ‘Maiden Castle Yorkshire’ on my web browser, so were able to largely identify the features they found within the fort, which was a real help in understanding what we were looking at. Where their report had indicated a probable roundhouse, we found a circular area with very different vegetation, with low lying stones popping up through the grass to indicate where the foundation walls had been. The walled approaches on the eastern side of the fort were impressive, giving the fort a ‘banjo’ shape. There is also a cairn/round barrow immediately adjacent to the northern end of the northern wall approach road to the fort. Whilst exploring the fort, we saw other walkers pass by on the footpaths above and below, but very few people actually came into the fort, which was surprising. Definitely worth a visit.



Average ratings for this site from all visit loggers: Condition: 3.5 Ambience: 4 Access: 3

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