Maiden Castle as a monument of antiquity
Maiden Castle is one of the biggest and most famous hill forts in Britain. It is called the ‘masterpiece of the Iron Age’. The area of the hillfort covers approximately 17 hectares. The earliest documentary evidence of human occupation dates back to the Neolithic period.
The history of the ruins of this hill fort that stretches over 3 km in Dorchester starts in IV BC and reaches the Iron Age. The remains of walls, which resemble huge waves, previously encircled a big settlement. These walls date back to the 1st century AD. It is thought that occupation began in the Iron Age with the construction of a hill fort. During the next centuries, a permanent settlement was “linked by surfaced trackways” (Kipfer 2000, p.328). During the time of Roman conquest, the hill fort mocked the Roman enemy, “the fort was sacked by Vespasian’s legion (AD 43-44), and the slain defenders were buried in a cemetery near the gate” (Kipfer 2000, p.328). After that, the hill fort had been derelict until 4 century AD, “when a Romano-Celtic temple was built there” (Kipfer 2000, p.328).
The Maiden Castle was excavated in the period between 1934 and 1937 by Mortimer Wheeler:
‘During the summers of 1934 to 1937, he and Tessa developed the art of archeological excavation to heights never achieved before, using a combination of vertical and horizontal excavation. They excavated deep trenches through Maiden Castle’s serried earthen ramparts. They investigated broad areas of the interior with area trenches. An entire generation of young archeologists worked at maiden Castle, many of whom major contributions to the field after World War II’ (Maschner and Chippindale 2005, p.55).
Dorchester and its places of interest
Maiden Castle is not the only landmark in Dorchester. This town has its own colorful and fascinating history. It was founded by Romans in 70 AD, and it should be pointed out that they called this town ‘Durnovaria’. The ruins of the town wall, as well as, Roman Villa, amphitheater, baths, military roads provide evidence of their presence. For instance, in the year 1841:
a beautiful piece of Roman tessellated pavement was discovered in a garden; and numerous other specimens, as well as bronze figures, and coins of Antonius, Vespasian, Constantine, Julian, Theodosius, Marcus Aurelius, and Valerian, have been discovered (The land we live in, a pictorial and literary sketch-book of the British Empire, British Isles 1856, p.356).
Unfortunately, a number of monuments of antiquity were destroyed by fire. Researcher James Savage (1837, p.117) in his book “History of Dorchester,…” wrote that “On Friday, the 6th of August, 1613, this town was consumed by an accidental fire; in which 300 houses and the Churches of the Holy Trinity and All saints were burnt”.
The ancient Roman walls surround the town, “being planted with lime, chestnut, and sycamore trees, they have most of the beauty of park avenues” (The land we live in, a pictorial and literary sketch-book of the British Empire, British Isles 1856, p.356).
In Dorchester, one might see the remains of Roman roads:
In making a new road at Fordington, in the year 1747, a Roman Hypocaust was discovered; many of the bricks retained marks of fire, but not any of them were perfect; various pieces of glass vessels were also found (Savage 1837, p.67).
The remains of the Roman settlement are still preserved there. The Roman townhouse is situated at Collitin Park. It was excavated in 1937-1938. The Roman townhouse is famous because of its unique Roman design: mosaics, the roof of stone, steel-framed structure.
Contribution of archeological excavations
The amphitheater is called Maenbury. It is considered to be a monument of antiquity. The discoverer of the amphitheater was Christopher Wren, but it was Dr. Stukeley, who examined this masterpiece with great attention. Dr. Stukeley wrote:
The Amphitheatre is situated in an open field, belonging to the parish of Fordington, adjoining to Dorchester, and is about 500 yards southwest from that town, close to the ancient Roman road. From the Amphitheatre the spectator sees Maiden Castle, distant about a mile and a half (Savage 1837, p.32).
It was used as an artillery redoubt during the Civil war:
It is said that this amphitheater would have fallen a victim to the railway excavators; but that the engineer contrived that his works should pass the spot without damaging it (The land we live in, a pictorial and literary sketch-book of the British empire, British Isles 1856, p.355).
While performing the excavations and fieldwork, archaeologists unearthed the remains of former times. Excavations in England revealed such monuments of antiquity, like Maiden Castle, Roman house town, Roman Amphitheatre. It can be stated that these findings helped people get more information about the history of their land. We might even assume that such excavations contributed greatly to people’s understanding of the remote past.
References
Kipfer, B 2000, Encyclopedic dictionary of archeology, Springer, New York.
Maschner, G & Chippindale, C 2005, Handbook of archeological methods, AltaMira Press, Oxford.
Savage, J 1837, The history of Dorchester, during the British, Roman, Saxon, and Norman periods: with an account of its present state and historical notices of the British Clan Durobridges, Weston, Simonds& Sydenham, London.
The land we live in, a pictorial and literary sketchbook of the British Empire, British Isles 1856, WM. S. ORR & CO, London.