Cadbury castle, Somerset, is an Iron Age hillfort which many people believe is Camelot, the famous Arthurian settlement. However, Cadbury is not mentioned in Arthurian writings but by John Leland, a self-styled King’s Antiquary to Henry VIII in 1542. He wrote:

"At the very south end of the chirch of South-Cadbyri standith Camallate"(Alcock 1972:11)

Alcock describes how the hill was occupied up to the Roman conquest then cleared but around 460 it was reoccupied and refortified. It could have a link with the aforementioned Riothamus, who could be a possible real Arthur, in that it could have been Riothamus’ headquarters. He did have large armies and his travels suggest that he lived close to the south sea areas in order to facilitate this travel especially abroad to places such as Gaul.

In the end, Ashe (1972) admits:

"We did not find the fabulous Camelot, nor add anything directly to historical knowledge about Arthur as a person." (Ashe 1972:212)

This was a widely publicised excavation which caused a new spark of interest with the Arthur legend. It showed that the story is still popular even today.

Other archaeological evidence