Maesbury Castle
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Maesbury Castle is an Iron Age hill fort within the parish of Croscombe on the Mendip Hills, just north of Shepton Mallet. The name is derived from maes, meaning field or plain in Brythonic Welsh, and burh, meaning fort in Old English.
There is also a record of the name Merksburi in 705 AD, meaning boundary fort. The area was a boundary between the Romano-British Celts and West Saxons during the period 577-652 AD, when the nearby Wansdyke fortification comprised part of the border.
The enclosure has an area of 2.5 ha, and lies at a height of 292 m (950 ft), with views over the Somerset Levels to Glastonbury Tor and Brent Knoll.
The fort has a single rampart up to 6 m high, with an outer ditch (univallate). Entrances are to the south-east and north-east (with possible outworks).
It has been listed as Scheduled Ancient Monument.[1]
[edit] See also
- Maes Knoll, 20 km to the north.
[edit] References
- ^ Firth, Hannah (2007). Mendip from the air. Taunton: Somerset County Council. ISBN 9780861833900.
- A Field Guide to Somerset Archaeology, L.Adkins & R.Adkins (1992) ISBN 0-946159-94-7
- The Victoria History of the County of Somerset, Vol 1 (1906)
[edit] External links
