Maiden Castle , Cheshire Maiden Castle is an Iron Age hill fort , one of many fortified hill - top settlements constructed across Britain during the Iron Age , but one of only seven in the county of Cheshire in northern England . The hill fort was probably occupied from its construction in 600 BC until the Roman conquest of Britain in the 1st century AD . Since then it has been quarried and used for military exercises . It is protected as a Scheduled Ancient Monument , and is owned by the National Trust . The hill fort is open to visitors , but unrestricted access to the site has resulted in it being classified as " at high risk " from erosion . Background . Hill forts developed in the Late Bronze and Early Iron Age , roughly the start of the first millennium BC . The reason for their emergence in Britain , and their purpose , has been a subject of debate . It has been argued that they could have been military sites constructed in response to invasion from continental Europe , sites built by invaders , or a military reaction to social tensions caused by an increasing population and consequent pressure on agriculture . The dominant view since the 1960s has been that the increasing use of iron led to social changes in Britain . Deposits of iron ore were located in different places to the tin and copper ore necessary to make bronze , and as a result trading patterns shifted and the old elites lost their economic and social status . Power passed into the hands of a new group of people . Archaeologist Barry Cunliffe believes that population increase still played a role and has stated that Location . Although there are over 1 , 300 hill forts in England , they are concentrated in the south of the country , with only seven in Cheshire . There are two groups of hill forts in Cheshire , each with three members , but Maiden Castle is the outlier , about south - south - west of the southern - most group . Located at , Maiden Castle lies on the central ridge that runs north – south through the county , as do all of the hill forts in Cheshire . Maiden Castle sits on a slight promontory which is the highest point of a plateau on Bickerton Hill , . The ground to the west and north of the hill fort is steeply sloping , making artificial defences unnecessary and providing a commanding view of the Cheshire Plain . To the east of Maiden Castle , the plateau continues for about and wide , where ramparts were constructed in lieu of natural defences . Layout . Maiden Castle has no artificial defences on its northern and western sides because of the naturally steep slope of the hill , but there are two artificial banks , apart . The banks are similar in dimension , both are wide , and because the ground they are on slopes , the exterior side of each bank is higher than the side on the inside of the fort ; they are high on the inside of the fort and on the exterior face . There is no evidence that Maiden Castle was protected by a ditch along with the banks . The main entrance is on the east side of the fort where the inner bank turns in towards the fort , and while there is a gap in the outer rampart it does not turn in . There may also be two other entrances to the site where the banks meet the cliffs to the north and south ; the outer ditch runs inwards at both ends , possibly indicating an in - turned entrance abutting the edge of the cliff – similar to the entrance at the Helsby hill fort also in Cheshire – or perhaps an attempt to make the banks run flush to the cliff - edge to ensure there were no gaps in the site ' s defences . History . Radiocarbon dating indicates that the ramparts defending Maiden Castle were built in around 600 BC . Built from earth and timber , the inner rampart was originally wide , with a revetment of dry stone walling behind the bank , and at least high . The outer bank was originally wide and about high . It was built from sand and had a dry stone facing at the front and no revetment behind . The outer bank was later enlarged : the outer face was extended away from the fort and the revetment moved . Its height was probably increased to . The defences cover about out of the entire of the Maiden Castle site . According to archaeologist James Forde - Johnston , who conducted a study of the hill forts of Lancashire and Cheshire in 1962 , this was an unusually strong defence for such a small site . Few artefacts have been recovered from the site ; they include a piece of Iron Age pottery . Maiden Castle was probably occupied until the Roman conquest of Britain in 1st century AD , and the outer bank may have been reconstructed around this time . The name Maiden Castle is not unique to the site and occurs in several other places in Britain , such as Maiden Castle in Dorset , and probably means a " fortification that looks impregnable " or one that has never been taken in battle . Despite quarrying in the 17th century and 20th - century military exercises on the site , Maiden Castle survives well . Maiden Castle was excavated between 1932 and 1935 by W . J . Varley , who also undertook excavations at Eddisbury hill fort , as part of his investigation into the origin of Cheshire ' s hill forts . Further excavations were undertaken in 1980 – 1981 . The structure was made a Scheduled Ancient Monument in 1995 , giving Maiden Castle protection against unauthorised change . The environment of the hill fort is a mixture of heathland , heather , and bracken . The site is owned by the National Trust and is open to the public . Unrestricted access has led to problems such as erosion . Maiden Castle has been damaged by animal burrows and is designated as " at high risk " due to erosion caused by visitors and the spread of bracken . Five of Cheshire ' s seven hill forts have been assessed as being " at high risk " compared to 15 % of North West England ' s Scheduled Monuments .