Castle Downs is a dome-shaped hill, high, located in mid

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

, UK. There is a major

hillfort A hillfort is a type of earthwork used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze Age or Iron Age. Some were used in the post-Roma ...

, Castle an Dinas, on the summit and extensive and panoramic views across the county to both north and south coasts.''Castle-an-Dinas''
historic-cornwall.org.uk; accessed 4 September 2013. The open summit of Castle Downs is located just north of the

A30 road The A30 is a major road in England, running WSW from London to Land's End. The road has been a principal axis in Britain from the 17th century to early 19th century, as a major coaching route. It used to provide the fastest route from Lond ...

in mid Cornwall, about 2 miles east-southeast of

St Columb Major St Columb Major is a town and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. Often referred to locally as ''St Columb'', it is approximately southwest of Wadebridge and east of Newquay Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 200 ''Newqua ...

, 2 miles northeast of

Indian Queens Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asi ...

and about 7 miles west-southwest of Bodmin. About 1½ miles to the east is the sister hill of Belowda Beacon (227 m).

Ordnance Survey Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see ordnance and surveying), which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of 1745. There was a ...

1:50,000 ''Landranger'' map series, No. 200 The major summit feature of Castle an Dinas is a massive

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostl ...

hill fort A hillfort is a type of earthwork used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze Age or Iron Age. Some were used in the post-Roma ...

comprising 3 concentric ramparts and ditches that were probably originally surmounted by wooden palisades. The main entrance is to the southwest. Within the castle are 2

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second prin ...

barrows. The hillfort has been partially damaged by a, now closed, 20th century wolfram mine. Legend has it that the site was one of the seats of the Duke of Cornwall and, according to folklore, it is also where Cador, Duke of Cornwall and

Ygraine In the Matter of Britain, Igraine () is the mother of King Arthur. Igraine is also known in Latin as Igerna, in Welsh as Eigr (Middle Welsh Eigyr), in French as Ygraine (Old French Ygerne or Igerne), in ''Le Morte d'Arthur'' as Ygrayne—often ...

, King Arthur's mother, were killed.

References

{{Reflist Hills of Cornwall Cornish Killas