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and seventy paces on the right. The approach is easy on the land side, from the south-west, fortified with a ditch and breast work: The entrance or passage over the ditch is not in the middle, but made to correspond with the natural rise of the outward ground ... The ditch is twelve paces wide, and runs with a little curvature to each edge of the slope, ... on one hand being fifty paces in length, and the other eighty paces. After passing the ditch there is a level parade or platform, twenty paces wide, and then a high earth fence, now nine feet perpendicular ... A breast work has run from the earth fence on each hand along the brink of the hill, to the edge of the cliff or scar. The earth fence closes the whole neck of land, and is in length one hundred paces, forming the south-west side of the area.
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On the right and left the steep sides of the mount are covered with a thick forest of oaks: The crown of the mount consists of a level area or plain, forty paces wide on the summit of the scar, in the front or north east side, one hundred and sixty paces long on the left-hand side, and one hundred
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Although the river Wear now touches the site only on one side, the local topography suggests that the site may have been chosen because, at that time, the river enclosed it on three sides, the river having since adopted a more easterly course across its floodplain.
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It is not certain where the entrance to the fort was located. It may have been at the northern end, where there is a gap in the ditch, or at the extreme southern end, but the area has been disturbed by landscaping, making interpretation difficult.
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Here, where the land is level, a bank and outer ditch were constructed, enclosing a wedge-shaped area which is 120 metres wide at the western end, narrowing to 50 m at the eastern end, and extending 145 m from east to west.
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This is a lofty promontory of great natural strength, to the east of the city , and approached from the west side. The north, south and east slopes are very steep, especially the last, which rises about 100 feet above the
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Only limited excavation has been carried out on the site, but there is some evidence that the interior of the bank was strengthened with a stone wall; the excavation unearthed at least one stone bearing a
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The name "maiden" probably means a "fortification that looks impregnable" or one that has never been taken in battle. Alternatively, Maiden Castle comes from the
Brythonic
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The bank is about 6 m wide and 5 m high. The ditch, which is located rather more than 20 m west of the bank, has a maximum depth of about 2 m.
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Although the entire site has been overgrown with trees for over a century, there are remains of earthworks at the western end.
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This article is about the Iron Age promontory fort. For the sports complex, see
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The
Victoria County History describes the location of the fort as follows:
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472:"Ancient Earthworks", in Victoria County History: Durham, vol 1
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202:Location of Maiden Castle in County Durham
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380:"Maiden Castle promontory fort (1008844)"
440:Durham Castle: Fortress, Palace, College
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474:. London: Archibald Constable and Co.
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347:"Durham University Woodlands"
262:: Durham, vol 1 (1905), p 348
438:Brickstock, Richard (2007).
446:: Jeremy Mills Publishing.
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470:Gould, I Chalkley (1905).
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321:Origin of the name
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391:18 January
360:18 January
333:References
311:stonemason
249:river Wear
158:Designated
100:NZ 283 417
65:54°46′08″N
290:Structure
68:1°33′40″W
51:, England
423:1 August
327:*moe din
275:—
253:—
238:Location
217:Iron Age
119:Iron Age
45:Location
228:England
169:1008844
110:1.23 ha
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258:(ed),
224:Durham
215:is an
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350:(PDF)
135:Owner
115:Built
491:ISBN
448:ISBN
425:2009
393:2023
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107:Area
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
