Alfred's Castle facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Alfred's Castle |
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Aerial view of Alfred's Castle from the north
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| Type | Hillfort and Roman building |
| Location | Ashbury, Oxfordshire |
| Official name: Alfred's Castle univallate hillfort | |
| Designated | 11 February 1958 |
| Reference no. | 1015551 |
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Alfred's Castle is an ancient fort from the Iron Age. It is located in Oxfordshire, England, near a place called Ashdown Park. This special site is protected as a Scheduled Monument because it is very important to history.
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What is Alfred's Castle?
Alfred's Castle is a small hill fort. It was built during the Iron Age, which was a long time ago. This fort sits on a hill, giving people a good view of the land around it. It is found in Ashbury, Oxfordshire, which is in Oxfordshire. This area used to be part of Berkshire. The fort is about 2 to 3 kilometers south of The Ridgeway, an ancient path.
Life at the Castle
Archaeologists are like history detectives. They dug at Alfred's Castle from 1998 to 2000. They found that the fort was built around 600 BC. This means it is very old!
They also found a large area next to the fort. This area shows up as a "cropmark" from the air. A cropmark is a pattern in crops that shows where old buildings or ditches used to be. This large area was built at the same time as the small fort.
Inside the fort, archaeologists found many signs that people lived there. They found evidence of homes and activities from the Bronze Age and Iron Age.
Roman Times at the Castle
Later, after the Iron Age people left, something new was built. Around the late 1st century AD, a Romano-British farmhouse was built inside the old fort. This shows that people continued to use this important spot even after the Iron Age.
King Alfred's Connection
King Alfred was a famous English king. He won a big battle against the Danes in AD 871. This battle was called the Battle of Ashdown.
Alfred's Castle is located near Ashdown House. Because of this, people in the 1800s thought the castle might be linked to King Alfred's army. They thought his troops might have moved through this area before the battle.
However, the exact place where King Alfred fought the Battle of Ashdown is still a mystery. Historians are not sure where it happened. The most likely places are near Compton and Aldworth in Berkshire. So, while the castle is named after Alfred, its direct link to his battle is debated.
Studying the Past
Archaeologists from Oxford University studied Alfred's Castle. They worked there from 1998 to 2000. They published their final report in 2014. Their work helps us understand what life was like in ancient Britain.
