A Short History of Maiden Castle

Last week I took some American visitors to look at Maiden Castle in Dorset. It was certainly not what they were expecting, as there was no sign of any of the traditional mediaeval castles which have captured the imagination over the centuries, and which have been portrayed in countless Hollywood films.

  

Maiden Castle is an iron age hill fort dating from about 300 BC which totally dominates the skyline of that part of the country. It completely overwhelms the person who sees it for the first time. The true extent of the ramparts are only appreciated when you start to walk up the steeply sloping entrance. You pass a truly formidable series of banks and ditches some of which rise 80 feet from the previous trough. And on top of these would have been wooden stockades for further defence. There are up to five ridges and troughs around a two mile perimeter with the land in the centre comprising the living area with huts and storage areas for food, tribal meeting places and animal stockades.

This hill fort was in constant use until slings and arrows proved to be inadequate against the better technology of the Romans whose armaments and ruthless discipline soon prevailed. The fort was sacked in 44 AD by a General who later became the Emperor Vespasian. The fort then fell into decline until the Romans left, and then in about 550 AD it was rumoured to have been brought back into use by the legendary King Arthur.

On a rather morbid note, excavations have revealed bodies dating back to roman times which were seriously mutilated, so the repercussions from withstanding Roman power seemed to have been severe. For those who are interested in the more emotional aspects of defending a hill fort, I portray a suggested scenario in chapter 19 of my book Catacombs of the Damned. Imagination is certainly assisted if you go there on a dark and turbulent winter night. You can feel the fear and desperation of the defenders as they began to understand the forces arrayed against them.

Catacombs of the Damned is available in paperback and on Kindle:

 

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The Cerne Giant

Cerne Abbas is a beautiful little village in the south of Dorset where early religious beliefs managed to find a happy cohabitation with paganism.

     During the late 9th century a Benedictine Abbey was built there to commemorate St Edwold the Hermit who had settled in the valley close to the river Cerne about 150 years previously. This Abbey dominated the surrounding countryside for about 500 years until Henry VIII’s vandals swooped down from the high ground with a view to destruction and the sacking of the Abbey’s wealth. This depredation was pretty complete with just a few of the outhouses surviving amongst the ruins. But luckily, the 14th century Church of St Mary managed to survive, along with the ancient tradition of beer making which made good use of the particularly pure water in the area- one wonders whether the monks had a more pragmatic reason for basing themselves there than the purely religious one! The thought of riotous monks staggering to bed after vespers is indeed a dreadful picture of unbridled sin! And then, over the next few hundred years an energetic market town developed with no less than 14 taverns which served as coaching Inns.

     In chapter 3 of my book Catacombs of theDamned, I look briefly at a typical village with a coaching Inn and a historic church, where there are years of hidden history involved. Much of this is a juxtaposition of Christian/Pagan history.

    This Christianity lives side by side with pagan beliefs in Cerne Abbas which is a fine example of religious pragmatism. The Cerne Giant is a very famous feature of Dorset and is steeped in pagan beliefs.

                                                          

    His history is uncertain but many believe he started out as an iron age (about 300 BC) fertility symbol. Others give him Danish or Roman antecedents. There is even a story that he was drawn to mark the humiliation of one of the early Abbots for “conduct unbecoming”. This appears to have been a precursor to a 21st century problem, “plus ca change, plus c’est la meme chose” as Alphonse Karr so succinctly put it. But it does seem reasonable that the Giant was part of a pagan religious centre. Many Christian Churches were built close to such centres in the hope that followers of the old religion would become followers of the new.

    If you are in the South of England, a visit to the Giant (55 metres tall, and 51 metres wide) is a must.

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The Mystery of Stonehenge

   It was a bitterly cold night as I left London to visit a pre-historic site in the west of England. There was no wind and the frost lay still and undisturbed on the ground, while the constellation of Orion winked and dominated the blackness while speckling the distant sky in that overwhelming supremacy which can only be felt at night. It was as if the world in sleeping had suddenly been emptied of life. All was quiet and motionless. If ever there was a connection with pre-history, this was it.

     And then as the road dipped down from a gentle hill the grandeur of Stonehenge became silhouetted against the far horizon. These circles of stones which had stood for 5000 years loomed up as a timeless monument to those pagans who had lived in these parts; their sheer size and presence simply crushing the transience of modern life. I had to stop and wonder.

     The first Henge was an earthwork ditch with a bank arranged in a circle about 100 yards in diameter. There were holes dug as part of the structure in which have been found cremated human bones. But most modern archaeologists believe that the early Henge was more for religious ceremony than for burial. This was about 3100 BC. Then it seems that there was no further development for about 1000 years.

     Then in around 2100 BC about 80 Bluestones were transported from the distant mountains of south-west Wales. It was an engineering and transport achievement of mammoth proportions to get them over the wooded and difficult terrain of about 200 miles….some weighed up to 4 tonnes. These stones were then set into 2 partially complete circles with the earth entrance being widened and a pair of entry stones being erected. An avenue was also constructed which was aligned to the sunrise on mid-summer’s day.

    Then about 100 years later (about 5 generations in those days!) the gigantic Sarsen stones were brought about 25 miles and were arranged in an outer circle with a continuous run of lintels. Some of these weigh 50 tonnes. Then, finally in about 1500 BC the inner circles of bluestones were rearranged into what we see today.

So what was it all about?

  There are five theories. Firstly it was a ceremonial place for the dead and was a part of numerous other monuments in the area. It is said that several ley lines converge at the Henge, with Glastonbury as the focus. I discuss ley lines on page 68 of my book, Catacombs of the Damned.

     Secondly it is said that it was a sanctuary for healing. Burial mounds in the area contain human remains with injury and sickness while chemical analysis has shown that they came from far afield. But with so many burial grounds I can’t help wondering how successful the healing properties were!

     Then the most popular view was that it was used for astronomical observation. It was used in both the summer and winter to mark the solstice.

      Finally, the two most unlikely explanations are that it was either a centre for moon worship or that it actually an alien landing site.

Stonehenge is one of the greatest mysterious of the world. I wonder if we will ever unlock the secrets of the prehistoric monument, and understand how it came to be.

Futher Reading

If you are interested in Stonehenge then you may very well enjoy the book Magnus of Stonewylde by Kit Berry. It centres around the mysticism of a stone circle in Dorset (the comparison with Stonehenge is obvious) and is a modern interpretation of how the ancient pagans might have behaved in the religious/solstice celebrations. It centres around a modern “dropout” community but has all sorts of dictatorial undertones where freedom is fine, as long as it is authorised by the Leader. The writing is superb with wonderful descriptions of country living, ceremonies and the antagonisms which can happen in a rigorously defined class system. It’s an ancient story with a modern twist- definitely worth reading.

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History, Reading and Writing

Besides reading and writing, I have a great passion for history and I have been steeped in history from as far back as I can remember. 

I live in my old family home where there are portraits (mainly military) dating back over 300 years. We also have original diaries covering battles and military excursions, mainly in India, over the same period. My grandmother was convinced that the house is haunted. And it is my very own house that became an inspiration for my novel Catacombs of the Damned. The photo on the front cover of Catacombs of the Damned is of my “haunted” home. I think you'll agree that it certainly does look spooky!  

In my home, there are literally thousands of books everywhere and as a child I was encouraged to read, and read, and read. I was lucky, to a certain extent, because my early years were lived without TV, so social interaction and reading was the only form of entertainment. Other than read, I used to go to the Dorchester museum and cycle the ridges of maiden castle. In growing up in Dorset, Roman history became very much a part of my life. So history is very real to me.

Since my childhood, I have developed a keen interest in ghost and horror stories. This interest led to me to penning Catacombs of the Damned. And in Catacombs of the Damned, I make many references to my years of acquired historical knowledge.  

With the bible being the greatest adventure book ever written, I was inspired to make a central theme of Ezekiel chapter 37, where the resurrection has been described in the field of bones. The great Michelangelo also made frequent references to this in much of his work.

The fictional village of Little Daunting that I created in Catacombs of the Damned sits on “ley lines”. I briefly describe them in my book. One of the wonders of the world, Stonehenge is also reputed sit on a ley line.

In Chapter 9, I include a brief description of a witch’s trial of the 1660s. I also give an accurate description of a  “typical” hill fort, like that of maiden castle in chapter 19.

Along with history, I have a very deep love of the countryside and I draw on this love and refer to my knowledge of it throughout my book. My inspiration for my references to nature is Thomas Hardy (I lived next to his cottage in Higher Bockhampton for several years), and other writers and artists, such as Beningfield, who have written and drawn much about the seasons.

Motivated by my great enthusiasm for history, I have decided to create a series of articles to share my knowledge, passion and general curiosity. I will begin publishing the series shortly, so keep an eye on my Twitter and Facebook updates. Alternatively, you can follow my blog by email and be the first to know when they go live.

Catacombs of the Damned is available in paperback and for Kindle:

 

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