page_title: Barbury Castle
section_title: Location
hierarchical_section_title: Barbury Castle / Location
caption_attribution_description: English: Photographer: User:Ballista
context_page_description: Barbury Castle is a scheduled Iron Age hill fort situated in Wiltshire, England. It is one of several such forts found along the ancient Ridgeway route. The site, which lies within the Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, has been managed as a country park by Swindon Borough Council since 1971. It is situated on Barbury Hill, a local vantage point, which, under ideal weather conditions, commands a view across to the Cotswolds and the River Severn. It has two deep defensive ditches and ramparts. The Old Ridgeway runs close by and the modern Ridgeway crosses through the castle. In the surrounding area are to be found round barrows, Celtic field systems and 18th-19th Century flint workings.
context_section_description: Barbury Castle is at grid reference SU149762, about 5 miles (8 km) south of Swindon and the M4, on the northern edge of the Marlborough Downs within the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Other than a couple of nearby farms, there is no current settlement near the site.
  By road the site can only be approached by a single road ascending the scarp slope of the downs from midway along the B4005 between Wroughton and Chiseldon. More options are available by foot or horseback, including the Ridgeway, which runs east–west along the edge of the downs, and a byway south across the downs to Marlborough.
  Nearby towns and cities: Swindon, Marlborough
  Nearby villages: Wroughton, Chiseldon
caption: Looking westwards towards the River Severn
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