Site Event/Activity record ECH5753 - Archaeological Survey and Investigation at Maiden Castle, 2012

A detailed survey and investigation of the surface remains of the Iron Age hillfort at Maiden Castle, Bickerton, situated at the southern end of the Cheshire Sandstone Ridge. This consists of a substantial double rampart which encloses a natural promontory above a steep escarpment edge. The hillfort has a well-preserved inturned entranceway through its north-eastern side, and a broad berm follows the exterior of the inner rampart bank. The interior of the site has been heavily disturbed by quarrying, and there is no surface evidence for activity relating tot eh use of the hillfort itself, although sub-surface archaeological remains could potentially survive in a small, relatively undisturbed area on the northern side of the interior. The site is crossed by two sections of post-medieval boundary bank, and also contains a number of slit trenches, resulting from the use of the site as a military training area during the second half of the twentieth century (1).