Shaftesbury England | Walk Around Dorset’s Most Beautiful Village — Gold Hill & Town 4K Tour

Explore the vibrant Shaftesbury, the most beautiful village in Dorset, England at 4K 60fps. 🎧 Best with headphones for an immersive experience.

Hey there! If you’re looking for a hidden gem to explore, I highly recommend checking out Shaftesbury in Dorset, England. Take a 4K walk and enjoy the lovely sights and friendly locals. Trust me, it’s definitely worth a visit!

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This route has a total distance of 3 km (1.86 miles).

🗺️ The map route of this walk can be found here 👉 https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?mid=1VIPWHxSqwhElUfhsIedx-9hCfuHUx9I&usp=sharing

📍 Location: Shaftesbury, Dorset, UK

📜 Learn about the history and significance of each attraction by turning on Close Caption [CC]
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Timeline of the Shaftesbury walking tour:
0:00:00 – Intro/Preview
0:01:01 – Start of the walking
0:01:30 – Shaftesbury Pine Walk
0:04:40 – Park Walk and Shaftesbury South View Point
0:12:00 – Gold Hill Shaftesbury
0:16:20 – Shaftesbury Town Centre
0:28:50 – Shaftesbury Shooters Lane
0:32:30 – Stroll along the heritage village vibe
0:41:05 – Roth Millenium Green
0:47:00 – Stoney Path
0:49:30 – Park Walk and Shaftesbury South View Point
0:53:50 – Shaftesbury Holy Trinity Church
0:59:50 – Shaftesbury Castle Green

🎥 Filmed in 4K Ultra high-definition for an immersive experience using DJI Osmo Action 3:
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🎙️ Sound recorded using Zoom H1N Handy Recorder:
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📸 Additional Footages and Images captured by iPhone 13 Pro Max

#Shaftesbury #Dorset #HiddenGem #4KVideo #TravelVlog #NatureBeauty #StunningViews #UKTravel #Countryside #Landmarks #Heritage #ScenicBeauty #TouristAttractions #Filmmaking #TravelInspiration

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Shaftesbury is a town and civil parish in Dorset, England. It is on the A30 road, 20 miles (32 kilometres) west of Salisbury and 19.4 miles (31 kilometres) southeast of Longleat, near the border with Wiltshire. It is the only significant hilltop settlement in Dorset,

Being built about 215 metres (705 feet) above sea level on a greensand hill on the edge of Cranborne Chase. The town looks over the Blackmore Vale, part of the River Stour basin. Shaftesbury has a total population of 9,162 according to the 2021 census..

Shaftesbury is the site of the former Shaftesbury Abbey, which was founded in 888 by King Alfred and became one of the richest religious establishments in the country, before being destroyed in the dissolution in 1539. Shaftesbury has acquired several names throughout its history.

The original Celtic name is first recorded in Medieval Welsh literature as Caer Vynnydd y Paladr which means “The Mountain Fort/City of the Spears” and Thomas Gale records the name as Caer Palladour in his work of 1709. Though “Palladour” was described by one 19th-century directory as a “mere invention”,

It has continued to be used as a poetic and alternative name for the town. The English name was recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Sceptesberie, and the use of “Shaston” was recorded in 1831 in Samuel Lewis’s A Topographical Dictionary of England

And in 1840 in The Parliamentary Gazetteer of England and Wales. Later, Thomas Hardy used both “Shaston” and “Palladour” to refer to the town in the fictional Wessex of his novels such as Jude the Obscure.

In terms of history, There is no substantive evidence that Shaftesbury was the “Caer Palladur” of Celtic and Roman times, and instead the town’s recorded history dates from Anglo-Saxon times. By the early eighth century, there was an important minster church here,

And in 880 Alfred the Great founded a burgh (fortified settlement) here as a defence in the struggle with the Danish invaders. The burgh is recorded in the early-10th-century Burghal Hidage as one of only three that existed in the county

In 888 Alfred founded Shaftesbury Abbey which used to be on the left side of us. Shaftesbury Abbey was an abbey that housed nuns until dissolved in 1539 during the English Reformation This was caused by the order of Thomas Cromwell, minister to King Henry VIII.

At the time it was the second-wealthiest nunnery in England, behind only Syon Abbey. When Alfred the Great founded this abbey, he installed his daughter Æthelgifu as the first abbess. Ælfgifu, the wife of Alfred’s grandson, King Edmund I, was buried at Shaftesbury

And soon venerated as a saint, and she came to be regarded by the house as its true founder. Within that period, Æthelstan founded two royal mints, which struck pennies bearing the town’s name, and the abbey became the wealthiest Benedictine nunnery in England.

In the year 981, The bones of St Edward the Martyr were translated from Wareham and received at the abbey with great ceremony. The translation of the relics was overseen by St Dunstan and Ælfhere, Ealdorman of Mercia.

This occurred in a great procession beginning on 13 February 981; the relics arrived at Shaftesbury seven days later. The relics were received by the nuns of the abbey and were buried with full royal honours on the north side of the altar.

The account of the translation reports that on the way from Wareham to Shaftesbury, a miracle had taken place: when two crippled men were brought close to the bier and those carrying it lowered the body to their level, the cripples were immediately restored to full health.

This procession and events were re-enacted 1000 years later in 1981. Reports from Shaftesbury of many other miracles said to have been obtained through Edward’s intercession helped establish the abbey as a place of pilgrimage.

In 1001, it was recorded that the tomb in which St Edward lay was observed regularly to rise from the ground. King Æthelred instructed the bishops to raise his brother’s tomb from the ground and place it into a more fitting place.

The bishops moved the relics to a casket, placed in the holy place of the saints together with other holy relics. This elevation of the relics of Edward took place on 20 June 1001.

We will now pause the story of the abbey for a bit. For now, let’s enjoy the walk before we arrive at the most iconic landmark of Shaftesbury: The Gold Hill We have now arrived at the iconic Gold Hill of Shaftesbury

Gold Hill is a steep cobbled street in the town of Shaftesbury in the English county of Dorset. The view looking down from the top of the street has been described as “one of the most romantic sights in England.” It is famous for its picturesque appearance

The street is the main setting for the 1973 “Boy on a Bike” television advertisement for Hovis Bread, which has been voted Britain’s favourite advertisement of all time, it was directed by Ridley Scott. For this reason, the hill is still known to many people as “Hovis Hill”

The tops of some of the houses along Gold Hill are on the cover of J.K. Rowling’s book “The Casual Vacancy”. The town hosts the Gold Hill Fair each year to raise money for local charities. The cobbled street runs beside buttressed walls of the precinct as we have seen on the right side

This wall is the grounds surrounding ancient Shaftesbury Abbey, built by King Alfred the Great. The walls are a scheduled monument. Their origins are not known, but are presumed to have been built in the 1360s, when the abbess or other authority was given royal permission to build town defences.

At the top of the street is the 14th-century St Peter’s Church It is one of the few buildings remaining in Shaftesbury from before the 18th century. St Peters is the most ancient of all the churches in Shaftesbury and stands on the High Street. The registers date from 1623.

It was built in the latter part of the 15th century but, by 1878, the interior was pronounced unsafe and it was not in use for many years. In 1897 the floor and seating were renewed and further work was carried out in the early 20th century.

In more recent years major roof repairs, internal re-ordering and an organ overhaul have been undertaken [Information Board]: A Priest House for St.Peter Church in 16th Century Then the Sun and Moon Inn was at the heart of Shaftesbury’s market days for over 200 years.

This building adjacent to the church is the former Priest’s House (Sun and Moon Cottage), which is still part of the Gold Hill Museum building but now houses a shop. In terms of Geography, The old centre of Shaftesbury is sited on a westward-pointing promontory of high ground in northeast Dorset,

On the scarp edge of a range of hills that extend south and east into Cranborne Chase and neighbouring Wiltshire. The town’s built-up area extends down the promontory slopes to lower ground at St James, Alcester and Enmore Green, and eastwards across the watershed towards the hill’s dip slope.

Shaftesbury’s altitude is between about 165 metres (541 feet) at the lowest streets below the promontory, to about 235 m (771 ft) at Wincombe Business Park on the hilltop in the north, with the promontory and town centre being at about 215 m (705 ft).

Below the town to the west is the Blackmore Vale, which undulates between about 60 and 110 m (200 and 360 ft). About 2 mi (3 km) west of the town and within the Blackmore Vale is the conical mound of Duncliffe Hill, visible for miles and home to Duncliffe Wood and a nature reserve.

The countryside east of the town is part of the Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Geologically, Shaftesbury’s hill mostly comprises Upper Greensand, which is overlain by Lower Chalk in the east.

These date from the Cretaceous, with the greensand having been formed in the Albian and early Cenomanian, and the chalk also in the Cenomanian. The greensand is composed of three beds: the oldest and lowest is a layer of Cann Sand,

Which is found in the lower parts of the town, such as St James and Alcester, that are below the promontory; above this is a layer of Shaftesbury Sandstone, which generally forms the steepest slopes around the promontory,

And on top of this is a layer of Boyne Hollow Chert, which is found on top of the hill and on which most of the town is built. Below the Cann Sand, on the lower slopes of the hill to the north, west and south of the town, are extensive landslip deposits.

On our right side is the Shaftesbury Art Centre. Shaftesbury Arts Centre was established in 1957 and is located in the old covered market at 13 Bell Street, in the centre of the medieval Dorset market town It is widely recognised as one of the best volunteer membership-led arts centres in southwest England.

The Art Centre regularly hosts a variety of exhibitions, performances, workshops and training courses, which draws people from far and wide including Wiltshire and Somerset. It is also increasingly taking the arts out into the community. This street is called “Swan Yard”

This is the creative heart of Shaftesbury Swans Yard is ideally positioned just off the High Street, in the centre of Shaftesbury.​ The Yard is named after a noted coaching inn that once stood on the site.

It was a place full of activity where travellers stopped on their journey for refreshment and rest, and where locals met to exchange news and views. This hubbub of activity is captured today as Swans Yard is known as the creative heart of Shaftesbury specialising in unique artisan shops.

In Shaftesbury, there are two museums in total This includes Gold Hill Museum at the top of Gold Hill, and Shaftesbury Abbey Museum in the abbey grounds. Both of those museums are the same ones that we have walked past before

Gold Hill Museum was founded in 1946 and displays many artefacts that relate to the history of Shaftesbury and the surrounding area, including Dorset’s oldest fire engine, dating from 1744. Shaftesbury Abbey Museum tells the story of the abbey and also has a herb garden and medieval orchard.

Now that we talked about the Shaftesbury Abbey Museum and gardens, let’s come back to the history of the abbey that I have paused before Shaftesbury Abbey was rededicated to the Mother of God and St Edward.

Many miracles were claimed at the tomb of St Edward, including the healing of lepers and the blind. The abbey became the wealthiest Benedictine nunnery in England, a major pilgrimage site, and the town’s central focus. A large grange, Place Farm was established at Tisbury to administer the abbey’s Wiltshire estates.

William of Malmesbury, in his Gesta Regum Anglorum, praised the abbey residents’ “steadfast preservation of their purity” and the fervency and effectiveness of their prayers. In 1093, shortly before his election as archbishop, Anselm of Canterbury wrote a letter to Eulalia, who was abbess at the time, requesting their prayers for him

Medieval scholar and historian Katie Ann-Marie Bugyis states that it demonstrates his “confidence in the promptness and solicitude” of their prayers. Anselm wrote another letter to Shaftesbury ten years later, which suggests that Eulalia had responded to him and told him that the community had granted his request for prayer

He also thanked them for their prayers for him during his exile from England and asked for their continued intercession as he returned. In 1240 Cardinal Otto Candidus, the legate to the Apostolic See of Pope Gregory IX, visited the abbey and confirmed a charter of 1191

The first entered in the Glastonbury chartulary. Elizabeth de Burgh, Queen of Scots was imprisoned here from October 1312 to March 1313. By 1340, the steward of the abbess swore in the town’s mayor. At the time of the Dissolution of the Monasteries, a common saying quoted by Bishop Thomas Fuller conjectured

“if the abbess of Shaftesbury and the abbot of Glastonbury Abbey had been able to wed, their son would have been richer than the King of England” because of the lands which it had been bequeathed. It was too rich a prize for Thomas Cromwell to pass up on behalf of King Henry VIII.

In 1539, the last abbess, Elizabeth Zouche, signed a deed of surrender, The abbey was demolished, and its lands sold, leading to a temporary decline in the town. Sir Thomas Arundell, 1st Baron Arundell of Wardour purchased the abbey and much of the town in 1540,

But when he was later exiled for treason his lands were forfeited, and the lands passed to the earl of Pembroke then to Anthony Ashley Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury, and finally to the Grosvenors.

Shaftesbury was also where King Canute, who was the king of England from 1016, died here in 1035, though he was buried at Winchester. Later on, Edward the Confessor licensed a third mint for the town, apart from the two royal mints found by Æthelstan in 7th centuries

By the time of the Norman conquest in 1066, Shaftesbury had 257 houses, though many were destroyed in the ensuing years of conflict, and by the time the Domesday Book was compiled twenty years later, only 177 houses were remaining, though this still meant that Shaftesbury was the largest town in Dorset at that time.

In the first English Civil War (1135–1154) between Empress Matilda and King Stephen, an adulterine castle or fortified house was built on a small promontory at the western edge of the hill on which the old town was built.

The site on Castle Hill, also known locally as Boltbury, is now under grass and is a scheduled monument. In 1240 Cardinal Otto of Tonengo, legate to the Apostolic See of Pope Gregory IX visited the abbey and confirmed a charter of 1191, the first entered in the Glastonbury chartulary.

During the Middle Ages, the abbey was the central focus of the town the abbey’s great wealth was acknowledged in a popular saying at the time, which stated that “If the abbot of Glastonbury could marry the abbess of Shaftesbury their heir would hold more land than the king of England”.

In 1260 a charter to hold a market was granted. By 1340 the mayor had become a recognised figure, sworn in by the steward of the abbess. In 1392 Richard II confirmed a grant of two markets on different days.

Edwardstowe, Shaftesbury’s oldest surviving building, was built on Bimport at some time between 1400 and 1539. Also in this period, a medieval farm owned by the Abbess of Shaftesbury was established, on a site now occupied by the Tesco supermarket car park.

In 1539, the last Abbess of Shaftesbury, Elizabeth Zouche, signed a deed of surrender, the abbey was demolished, and its lands sold, leading to a temporary decline in the town. Sir Thomas Arundell purchased the abbey and much of the town in 1540,

But when he was later exiled for treason, his lands were forfeited, and the lands passed to Pembroke then Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury, and finally to the Grosvenors. Shaftesbury was a parliamentary constituency returning two members from 1296 to the Reform Act of 1832,

When it was reduced to one, and in 1884 the separate constituency was abolished. In Survey of Dorsetshire, written in about 1630 by Thomas Gerard of the Dorset village of Trent, Shaftesbury is described as a “faire Thorough Faire, much frequented by Travellers to and from London”.

The town was broadly Parliamentarian in the Civil War but was in Royalist hands. Wardour Castle fell to Parliamentary forces in 1643 Parliamentary forces surrounded the town in August 1645, when it was a centre of local clubmen activity.

The clubmen were arrested and sent to trial in Sherborne. Shaftesbury took no part in the Monmouth Rebellion of 1685. In the 17th century, the cloth industry formed part of Shaftesbury’s economy, though much of the actual production took place as a cottage industry in the surrounding area.

In the 18th century, the town produced a coarse white woollen cloth called ‘swanskin’, that was used by fishermen of Newfoundland and for uniforms. Buttonmaking also became important around this time, though with the later advent of industrialisation, this subsequently declined, resulting in unemployment, starvation and emigration, with 350 families leaving for Canada.

Malting and brewing were also significant in the 17th and 18th centuries, and like other Dorset towns such as Dorchester and Blandford Forum, Shaftesbury became known for its beer. The railways however bypassed the town, which had consequences for Shaftesbury’s economy.

During the 19th century, the town’s brewing industry was reduced to serving only local markets, as towns elsewhere in the country could transport their produce more cheaply. During the 19th century, the population of the town grew little.

The town hall was built in 1837 by Earl Grosvenor after the guildhall was pulled down to widen High Street. It has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade II listed building. Shaftesbury Town Hall is next to the 15th-century St Peter’s Church which is Grade II* listed.

The Westminster Memorial Hospital was constructed on Bimport in the mid-19th century with a legacy from the wife of the Duke of Westminster. In 1918 Lord Stalbridge, 2nd Baron Stalbridge, Hugh Grosvenor, sold a large portion of the town, which was purchased by a syndicate and auctioned piece by piece over three days.

The entire Stalbridge Estate of some 13,500 acres was sold and the title became extinct with the death of Hugh Grosvenor, 2nd Baron Stalbridge in 1949. His only son and heir had been killed in a flying accident in 1930.

Most of Shaftesbury’s buildings date from no earlier than the 18th century, as the Saxon and most of the medieval buildings have not survived. We have now arrived at the garden called “Roth Millenium Green” The Rolt Millennium Green is Shaftesbury’s beautiful and tranquil award-winning open space in St James.

It is owned by the whole community, and created and maintained by local volunteers. The Green sits on the west side of what was a larger plot, originally known as Ratcliff’s Garden. The few families with the name Ratcliff who appear in Dorset history records tend to cluster around Weymouth

But one Samuel Ratcliff was listed in the parish of Cann in 1722 among those who had to contribute to a rate for highways, so perhaps the original garden was named after him.

In the 1820s, Earl Grosvenor owned the garden, which was assessed for 2s 6d in land tax: it was occupied by John King. This seems to be the same John King as listed in the 1841 census,

When he was a shopkeeper aged about 60, living in St James with Ann King aged about 65. In the mid-1840s, the land is named “Ratcliff’s” in the tithe records for St James it was plot no.105, described as a garden of just over 1 acre.

It was still owned by one of the Grosvenors – by then Marquis of Westminster – and still occupied by John King. The garden then covered roughly what is now the west side of the modern street called Ratcliff’s Garden, down as far as the bend; plus the land of the current Millennium Green.

On the 1900 Ordnance Survey map, the plot was shown as “allotment gardens”. More recently, a long-standing resident of St James, Helen Constantia Rolt, owned the site and administered allotments on it for local people she placed a covenant on it so that it could not be built on in the future.

Some years after she died in 1988, her nephew Ben Sladen sold the land to the Trust, asking to name it in her memory. Funding for the purchase came from lottery funds through the Millennium Commission,

On condition that the land be held in trust for the benefit of everyone in the civil parish of Shaftesbury Shaftesbury also has several festivals that happen annually. One of the Iconic events is called “Shaftesbury Snowdrops”

Shaftesbury Snowdrops is a Diamond Jubilee Community Legacy to create a series of free and accessible snowdrop walks by planting snowdrops within the publicly open spaces and along the pathways throughout the town. This is a unique project to create Britain’s first ‘Snowdrop Town’.

Snowdrops are hugely popular, with private estates throughout the country opening their grounds annually to visitors. Shaftesbury is ideally located as a stopover point in the heart of the most beautiful Snowdrop Walks in the South West.

The Shaftesbury Snowdrops project was started in the winter of 2012 with the planting of 60,000 bulbs. Since 2013 there has been an annual Snowdrop Festival to encourage tourists to see the snowdrops in flower. Highlights of the festival include the Snowdrop Art Exhibition and the Snowdrop Lantern Parade.

In 2014 Shaftesbury Snowdrops started a heritage collection of rare and unusual snowdrops. These are held in trust for the people of Shaftesbury and displayed in Shaftesbury Abbey during the annual Snowdrop Festival. The collection is being built through sponsorship and donations.

In terms of Governance, Shaftesbury is in the North Dorset parliamentary constituency within the United Kingdom national parliament In local government, Shaftesbury is administered by Dorset Council, a unitary authority, and Shaftesbury Town Council, which has responsibilities that include open spaces and recreational facilities, allotments, litter, street markets,

Public conveniences, grants to voluntary organisations, cemetery provision, bus shelters, crime prevention initiatives, civic events and the town hall, planning (as a consultee) and the war memorial. For electoral purposes, Shaftesbury is divided into two electoral wards: Shaftesbury West and Shaftesbury East.

In national parliamentary elections, these are joined with 25 other wards that together elect the Member of Parliament for the North Dorset constituency. In county council elections the two wards together form the Shaftesbury electoral division, one of 42 divisions that each elect councillors to Dorset County Council.

In district council elections the two wards, together with seventeen other wards within the North Dorset District, elect councillors to the North Dorset District Council the two Shaftesbury wards each elect two councillors out of a total of 33. n town council elections, Shaftesbury’s two wards each elect six councillors to Shaftesbury Town Council.

We are now back at the top of the hill in the area called “Park Walk” Park Walk has far-reaching views over St James and across the Blackmore Vale. On a clear day, you can see for miles across the Dorset skyline.

Park Walk is a popular place to meet and relax around this historic market town. The building on our left side is the Westminster Memorial Hospital which was opened in 1874 This hospital provides about 20 in-patient beds, a minor injuries department, a range of out-patient clinics and other support services.

In 1871, some two years after the death of Richard Grosvenor, 2nd Marquess of Westminster, his wife, Lady Elizabeth Leveson-Gower, and one daughter gave a plot of land for the construction of a hospital in her husband’s memory. He had long connections with Shaftesbury, owning much property in the vicinity.

The family lived in Motcombe for part of the year and the Marquess died in the new Fonthill Abbey, Fonthill Gifford, some 10 miles from Shaftesbury. The foundation stone was laid in May 1871 by Lady Theodora Grosvenor and three years later the hospital was inaugurated by George Moberly, Bishop of Salisbury.

The design of the building was by J B Corby of Stamford, Lincolnshire and the hospital was constructed by a Shaftesbury man, Mr C J Miles. The funding of the hospital’s six beds in its early days was through subscribers

Patients were subject to a modest fee and there was a small income from an endowment fund provided by the Grosvenor family. No parish poor were admitted but instead were cared for in the local workhouse infirmary.

In 1907 the first major addition to the hospital was a small operating theatre, funded by Lady Theodora in memory of her mother, deceased some 16 years previously.

Local doctors had suggested the theatre and it was built as an extension on the west side of the hospital with a double lantern roof to admit full light. Further development followed with central heating installed in 1909 and an X-ray facility, after some delay, in 1919.

To assist with the funding of the hospital the Shaftesbury Carnival Committee donated money from the annual carnival. In 1924 there was a meeting with representatives of the Salisbury Infirmary regarding affiliation. 1928 saw the inauguration of the Hospital League, an adjunct organisation to which subscribers paid to qualify for treatment at the hospital.

In 1930 a major enlargement to the hospital was opened by Lord Evelyn Seymour and his wife Lady Edith Seymour, the Duchess of Somerset This provided more bed space and accommodation for staff. The out-patients department was added in 1938

And in the same year, there was an agreement to join the Salisbury Hospital Group. In 1948, Castle Hill House was purchased and converted into a small maternity unit which was managed by the Matron from the WMH and local doctors. It functioned until the early 1980s when it closed and was later sold.

Robert Grosvenor, 5th Duke of Westminster opened an extension for the use of outpatients in 1971. In front of us is the Holy Trinity Church. Holy Trinity church is situated in Bimport and was completely rebuilt on the old site in 1842.

It is built in the Early English style and comprises a nave, aisles, north and south galleries, a choir, north and south porches and square embattled western tower, 100 feet in height, with pinnacles and containing six bells. It could seat 834 people.

Now, however, the building has been converted for community use and is the home of many groups, including the Scouts and a Day Centre for senior citizens. The churchyard of the Holy Trinity still contains three handsome avenues of lime trees

We have now arrived at the “castle green” area, the park next to the castle hill. Castle Hill is an important site for wildlife within easy walking distance of Shaftesbury town centre. A variety of habitats including grassy slopes, wetland areas and well-developed woodland.

Over 130 types of plants occur here and 40 bird species have been recorded. The north-facing slopes look out across Dorset to the Somerset and Wiltshire border, with views of King Alfred’s Tower and the long wooded line of Penselwood Ridge. On a clear day, Glastonbury Tor is visible in the west.

Castle Hill is protected as a Scheduled Monument. It is the site of a fortified house from the Middle Ages It may have been built during a period of civil war nearly 900 years ago. We will now end our walk at the top of the castle hill

This is the place that the archaeologists suspect to be the possible site of a Norman or 12th-century Civil War castle. Within this site, there are no stone remains, only a deep ditch around the site.

It is suspected that it is the top of the hill and a trace of land modification can be seen If you like this video, don’t forget to subscribe to the channel, it will help me a lot in making future videos 🙂