Ancient site · England · Partial ruin

Cadbury Castle

Cadbury Castle is a large Bronze- and Iron-Age hillfort on the limestone summit of Cadbury Hill in Somerset, England. The site consists of a 7.28-hectare plateau encircled by multiple earthen ramparts and ditches and shows long sequences of occupation from the Neolithic through post-Roman (sub-Roman) periods. It is a scheduled monument long associated in local tradition with the Arthurian court of Camelot.

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Photograph via Wikimedia Commons

Its prime

AD 550

Today

Partial ruin

As it stood in AD 550

What Cadbury Castle looked like in its prime.

A broad, grassy limestone summit plateau ringed by multiple concentric earthen banks and deep ditches, with timber palisades and wooden gateways set on the inner crest. The hilltop is dotted with clusters of low roundhouses and several rectangular timber-framed buildings with thatched roofs, including a long timber Great Hall. Tracks and penning areas cut across the turf; scattered postholes and terrace lynchets mark past cultivation on the slopes. The surrounding lowlands are open pasture and hedgerows.

Step inside

9 places to explore in AD 550.

The record describes 9 distinct spots at Cadbury Castle, including 3 interiors: great hall interior, cluster of roundhouses, sequence of small rectangular shrine buildings. Create your own photoreal reconstruction and explore every one, more scenes means more photos, more angles and more of the immersive experience.

Approach from the north lowland fieldsNorthwest outer ramparts and ditchesSouthwest gate approachInner bank crest (rampart walkway)Summit plateau overviewGreat Hall exteriorGreat Hall interiorCluster of roundhousesSequence of small rectangular shrine buildings

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