Maiden Castle is a settlement in

Grinton Grinton is a small village and civil parish in the Yorkshire Dales, North Yorkshire, England. Close to Reeth and Fremington, North Yorkshire, Fremington, it lies west of Richmond, North Yorkshire, Richmond on the B6270 road. On 5 July 2014, t ...

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in Northern England.The Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority areas of City of York, York and North Yorkshire (district), North Yorkshire are in Yorkshire and t ...

() which probably dates from the

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

. It is listed as a

scheduled monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage, visu ...

. The name Maiden Castle is not unique to the site and occurs in several other places in Britain and probably means a "fortification that looks impregnable" or one that has never been taken in battle.Mills (1977), p. 377. The site measures , covering about , and is pear-shaped. An avenue leading to the entrance of the settlement is a unique feature. Maiden Castle has been described as a banjo enclosure due to its shape, however this description has been disputed. If it is a banjo enclosure, it would be one of just two in northern England, the other being Fremington Dykes. The only dating evidence recovered from Maiden Castle is a "post-and-panel building" which is typologically similar to a structure discovered in Healaugh that has been dated to the late Iron Age or

Romano-British The Romano-British culture arose in Britain under the Roman Empire following the Roman conquest in AD 43 and the creation of the province of Britannia. It arose as a fusion of the imported Roman culture with that of the indigenous Britons, ...

periods.

References

;Notes ;Bibliography * {{Iron Age hillforts in England Hill forts in North Yorkshire Scheduled monuments in North Yorkshire Swaledale