King's Castle

King’s Castle is an Iron Age hilltop settlement on the edge of the Mendip Hills south-west of Wells. It sits inside two or three linked enclosures with traces of a field system spreading eastward. The site has never been fully excavated and remains one of the earliest known settlements near Wells. It may have been an early form of the town that grew into the present city. The surrounding woodland, King’s Castle Wood, is now a nature reserve managed by Somerset Wildlife Trust. Scholars still debate why these forts first appeared around the start of the first millennium BC. Some argue they were built for defence against invaders from Europe. Others suggest they responded to rising population and pressure on farmland. Archaeologist Barry Cunliffe sees them as community strongholds used when tensions flared into open fighting. Iron working changed trade routes and shifted power away from old elites. The forts were functional defences but were not always under constant siege. Visitors walk among the grassy ramparts and earthworks that mark the enclosure edges. The view stretches across the Mendip Hills and towards Wells. King’s Castle Wood offers quiet paths through mixed woodland and clearings. Information boards explain the site’s likely Iron Age use and the debates among archaeologists. The reserve is open daily and free to enter, with no fences around the scheduled monument.