Climb to the summit of what many believe to be King Arthur’s Camelot. From Cadbury Castle’s peak, gaze across the Somerset Levels to Glastonbury Tor and King Alfred’s Tower, a landscape once transformed by the sea or cloaked in wild woodland, where medieval royalty hunted between the trees. Wander among the mighty ramparts to uncover two natural springs that sustained the hillfort’s ancient inhabitants. Circle its base, tracing the remnants of age-old farming systems, before descending to the quiet hamlet of Sutton Montis, nestled at the foot of this former seat of both mythical and historical power.
Distance: 3.5 miles/6km
Time: 1-2 hours
Ability: Easy.
Max height: 500ft.
Min height: 205ft.
Total climb: 347ft.
Terrain: Tracks, paths, fields and roads.
Start Point: Cadbury Castle. (Postcode: BA22 7HA, Grid Reference: ST631253, What Three Words: proposes.galloping.caged).
Map: OS Explorer 129 Yeovil and Sherborne as well as OS Explorer 117 Cerne Abbas and Bere Regis.
How to get there: From Sherborne, take the B3145 north of the town. After about a mile, take the left hand fork, signposted for Corton Denham, and then turn left at Windmill Hill to drop down into the valley. Turn right at Putt’s Lane and head straight through Corton Denham. Follow the same little lane between the rising hilltops and curve to the left around Kember’s Hill. Take the next Left down Stonehill to Church Lane as Cadbury Castle rises above, bend with the road to then find the entrance to the car park on the right hand side.
Dogs: On leads where livestock is present and in accordance with any notices on the walk and The Countryside Code.
Refreshments: Along the route is The Camelot Pub in South Cadbury, and nearby is The Queens Arms in Corton Denham
Neighbouring and Related Walks: Sandford Orcas, Holway, Trent and Dorset Hillforts.
Walk
The limestone mount of Cadbury Hill rises on the southern edge of the Somerset Levels, overlooking the flat lowlands to the north and west. At 153 m (500 ft.) above sea level, it commands a view that in ancient times would have been transformed. Tidal waters flooded the landscape, turning the hilltops into isolated islands set in a shimmering inland sea, the most famous being the Isle of Avalon, the heart of Glastonbury’s magical and mystical lore.
This watery world was an impenetrable labyrinth of mist and hidden pathways with vapours clinging to the slopes and drifting between spurs, hollows, and secret coves, only confidently navigated by those with local knowledge. The climate created the enchantment, cloaking the land in mystery and strengthening the legends that have grown from it. Cadbury Castle is no exception. Its rising natural hilltop played a vital role in history, a place where both myth and landscape has entwined, generating Arthurian echoes and shaping a realm where the natural and the supernatural are inseparable.
The name Cadbury combines bury from the Anglo-Saxon byrig, meaning “fort” or “town,” often used for hill-forts, such as Badbury, Rawlsbury, Buzbury etc. The first part may come from the River Cam, as seen in nearby villages like West Camel and Queen Camel. Some scholars, however, think it derives from a person’s name, such as Cador or Cada.
There is no connection with the famous Cadbury chocolate brand. The chocolate company traces its origins to Richard Tapper Cadbury (1768–1860), a native of Exeter who moved to Birmingham in 1794. There, he partnered with Joseph Rutte to establish a tea and coffee business that laid the foundations for the brand we know today.
Cadbury Hill first shows activity from the Neolithic era, with pottery, flints, and bones marking a small, unenclosed farming settlement. Simple pits and postholes hint at everyday activity in this early community. By the Bronze Age, the site was flourishing. Ovens, tools, and imported Mediterranean pottery reveal a thriving pastoral economy with far-reaching trade links. Among the discoveries was the South Cadbury Shield, the first of its kind found in northwest Europe. This Yetholm-type shield, possibly already 300 years old when buried, was ritually stabbed three times before being placed in a ditch, a powerful act that speaks of ceremony and belief. Other finds include arrowheads, bronze axes, spearheads, socketed knives, and fragments of pottery, all painting a picture of a community skilled in farming, metalworking, and ritual.
During the Iron Age, the hilltop went through a period of huge development, perhaps encouraged by its unique distinction as the only hillfort in England with two natural springs. By around 400 BC, earthwork ramparts and ditches were raised to defend the settlement, enclosing a 7.28-hectare plateau with principal entrances to the north-east and south-west. Over time, roundhouses were constructed, and the site became home to the Durotriges tribe, who gave Dorset its name. Agriculture shaped the surrounding slopes, with Iron Age strip lynchets to the north and south, while the construction of a rare gatehouse added to the fort’s strength. Archaeological finds that reveal a community both practical and richly connected include Sling stones (200–50 BC), stockpiled for defence, sourced from Chesil Beach, a bronze face plaque, perhaps once adorning furniture, Bronze terrets for guiding reins on carts and chariots (250–50 BC), a bronze sword strap fitting decorated with Mediterranean coral (c. 250 BC) and fine pottery and elaborately decorated spindle whorls of stone and antler, used for spinning wool.
The fort was never a “castle” in the medieval sense, but its ramparts, lynchets, and gates created a formidable stronghold. Overlooking the rich archaeological plateau of Sigwells, Cadbury Castle stood as both a practical settlement and a symbolic centre, weaving together a picture of Iron Age life, ritual, and resilience.
Around AD 73, the hillfort may have been violently seized during the Roman invasion of Britain. Archaeological evidence suggests it was a site of vigorous resistance by the Celtic tribes of the Durotriges, and the neighbouring Dumnonii, against the Second Augustan Legion (Legio II Augusta), commanded by the future emperor Vespasian. Excavations of the southwest gate in the late 1960s revealed traces of weaponry, destruction by fire, and signs of violent conflict. Following the conquest, the Romans appear to have reused the site as a fortified base, possibly with a gatehouse and even a temple or shrine. Finds include an abundance of Roman coins, pottery, and everyday military items such as camp utensils, urns, paterae, fibulae, bolts, and hand-grindstones. The story of Cadbury Castle’s Roman conquest inspired Ilke Tempke’s novel Skin, which explores the arrival of the Romans into the world of the Durotriges.
After a period of agricultural use, Cadbury Castle saw renewed activity in the late third and fourth centuries AD. Archaeological traces, such as reused roof tiles, building stones in the ramparts, and the discovery of a gilt-bronze letter “A”, strengthens the idea of a Romano-Celtic temple, marking the site as a place of ritual significance even as Roman Britain declined.
By the fifth century, Cadbury Castle took on a new role. From around AD 470 until after 580, the hillfort was reoccupied and transformed into a defended settlement of exceptional scale. Excavations led by Leslie Alcock revealed a substantial timber “Great Hall” (20 × 10 metres / 66 × 33 ft.), interpreted as an early medieval feasting hall – a place of ceremony, hospitality, and power that bridged the transition from Roman Britain to the early medieval world.
The innermost Iron Age defences were refortified, creating a stronghold twice the size of any other known fort of the period. A new defensive system was superimposed on the old ramparts: a five-metre-thick wall, encircling 1.2 km of perimeter, built of unmortared stone, fragments of Roman masonry, and bound with timber beams. A gatehouse was constructed at the south-western entrance, some distance from the hall itself. Finds from this period reveal a household of wealth and wide connections including Gaulish pottery and imported red bowls from the Mediterranean, high-quality non-British pottery used for luxury goods such as wine and oil, and symbols of status that imply occupation by a princely or royal household (very likely at the time when legends place King Arthur’s court at Camelot).
Cadbury Castle remained in use until around AD 580, its abandonment closely tied to the fall of the three great cities -Caer Baddan (Bath), Caer Ceri (Cirencester), and Caer Gloui (Gloucester) – to the advancing West Saxons in 577. This marked the loss of much of western Britain to the invaders and the fall of native power in the region.
By the 10th century, Cadbury Castle once again became strategically important. Historical records and place-name evidence suggest that by AD 1010, a royal mint was established at Cadanbyrig, generally identified as South Cadbury, by King Ethelred the Unready. In the Norman 11th century, Cadbury Castle continued to show signs of occupation. Archaeological discoveries reveal traces of a Great Hall, foundations of both round and rectangular houses, evidence of metalworking, and even a possible sequence of small temples or shrines. Some small-scale fortification of the site may also have occurred in the 13th century. These finds suggest that the site retained significance well beyond its earlier Iron Age origins, adapting to new roles easily in the shifting political landscape of medieval England.
From the car park, head out onto the road and turn right, walking alongside the slopes of Cadbury Castle. Turn left opposite Castle Farmhouse, dated 1687, to head up Castle Lane towards the ramparts. Just as you enter the rising earthworks, heading through a gate, turn right circling the hillfort anticlockwise. Gradually the views to the north appear through the trees, looking over the bust A303 to the Glastonbury Tor. Drop down between the ramparts, lined by towering beech trees, to then find the first of the two springs at Queen Anne’s Well. Queen Anne’s Well, now wrapped in Victorian brickwork, would have been an important resource to those on the fort and still supplies fresh water today.
Continue to follow the track along the rampart and around the hillfort’s western edge. Bear to the left, and left again, climbing up through what would have once been its main gated entrance. Cadbury Castle has long stood at the crossroads of history and myth, its ramparts entwined with the enduring legend of King Arthur. In the 16th century, antiquarian John Leland, commissioned by Henry VIII to record England’s antiquities before the dissolution of the monasteries, wrote that local tradition named Cadbury as none other than Camelot. Camelot being the legendary castle and court of King Arthur, where the loyal and chivalrous Knights of the Round Table met. Leland’s words validated a legend that had already lingered in the landscape for centuries.
Archaeology supports the site’s importance in the 5th and 6th centuries AD, with the vast timber hall and a gatehouse echoing descriptions in Arthurian stories. Its commanding position, formidable defences, and proximity to Tintagel, Arthur’s legendary birthplace, make it a plausible candidate for his Arthur’s headquarters on the eastern frontier of Dumnonii.
Though many places have claimed the title of Camelot, Cadbury Castle, once known as Camalet, remains one of the strongest contenders. Its aura is deepened by ties to Ambrosius Aurelianus, Arthur’s uncle and a leader of resistance against the Saxons, and by the poignant legend of Guinevere, said to have retired to Amesbury after Arthur’s death in 542 AD. Her supposed grave, discovered in the 1600s, drew pilgrims who believed she had been buried there by Lancelot before being moved to Glastonbury.
Whether fact or fiction, Cadbury Castle’s scale, defences, and enduring traditions make it a powerful candidate for Camelot – its archaeology and folklore weaving together both history and myth.
Enter onto the hillfort’s plateau, where, at the peak, views stretch across the Somerset Levels to Glastonbury Tor, King Alfred’s Tower, Yeovilton Air Base and beyond. Circle the southern ramparts with the ancient hilltops of Parrock Hill and Sigwells rising on the right. Arrive at the top of Castle Lane, where wind chimes hang from the tree, and drop down into the Holloway. As the path falls, another diverts off to the right to the second spring on the hillfort. King Arthur’s Well, again wrapped in later brick work, would have once been a gushing stream as historically the water table was mush higher, but today, in contrast to Queen Anne’s Well, it is dry.
Continue through the Holloway to the village road. Turn left, towards South Cadbury, to find the Church of Saint Thomas Beckett on the left. Dating back to the 13th century it would have been constructed while Cadbury Hillfort was still occupied. Pass the old 18th century Rectory on the right, now South Cadbury House, to arrive at a crossroads in the heart of the village.
Turn left, passing The Camelot Pub on the right. It was originally called the Red Lion but was renamed The Camelot when it was remodelled in 2004. Continue to follow the old road of Folly Lane, between the houses, where it turns into track as you leave the village. This old road may have once marked a boundary associated with the Iron Age hillfort and/or the Saxon settlement, the field between connecting the route to the base of the defensive slopes.
Just before the track ends, turn right to meet a stile. Enter a large open filed and turn left, keeping tight to the boundary. Cut straight the following hedge using a succession of metal gates, to enter the largest field carved with the ancient field systems. In the last corner, turn left over a stile, then right to join the little county lane of Church Hill.
Turn left and stay on the narrow, hedge lined lane into Sutton Montis, curving around the southern corner of the hillfort. Cross over the little Henshall Brook and curve up the hill to the church of the Holy Trinity. The building contains surviving 12th century work and like Saint Thomas Becket would have been built while activity on the hillfort was still in force. The proposed south western entrance, that would have contained the large impressive, Iron Age and later Saxon gate, would have led directly down the hill to the village suggesting a strong link between the settlement and its towering neighbour. In the graveyard are a number of monuments dedicated to local families. The Addams Monument commemorates Richard Addams, died in 1635 and his wife Mary, died in 1661, who were lords of the manor from the early 16the century until the late 19th century. The Baker Monument commemorates Robert Baker the churchwarden, who died l751, and the Watson Monument commemorates Richard Watson and his family, who died in 1822.
Continue along Church Hill and take the next left onto Rectory Hill. Pass Stonehill, coming from the right, and cross over the Henshall Brook for the second time. When the road splits, bear left to arrive back at Cadbury Car Park and your vehicle.
