King Arthur legendary Dark Age leader of the Britons in their post-Roman struggle with the Anglo-Saxons. Discover the locations linked with the legends and the possible historical claims to this 5th Century battle leader.
King Arthur's Birthplace : Tintagel Castle, Cornwall
Tintagel Castle birthplace of King Arthur and in the caves below Merlin the magician lived and tutored the young Arthur.
Archaeology has found that the site was settled at the time of Arthur, with evidence of high status pottery showing trading links with the Mediterranean. Somebody wealthy certainly held this clifftop fortification at the right time.
Identified by William of Monmouth as the location of Arthur's birth in his 'Historia Regum Britanniae' c1136. The cliffs above the sea being the site of the Duke of Cornwall's, Gorlois, castle.
See on the Map-olah map:
https://www.zeemaps.com/view?group=2653234&item=Tintagel_Castle
Archaeology has found that the site was settled at the time of Arthur, with evidence of high status pottery showing trading links with the Mediterranean. Somebody wealthy certainly held this clifftop fortification at the right time.
Identified by William of Monmouth as the location of Arthur's birth in his 'Historia Regum Britanniae' c1136. The cliffs above the sea being the site of the Duke of Cornwall's, Gorlois, castle.
See on the Map-olah map:
https://www.zeemaps.com/view?group=2653234&item=Tintagel_Castle
Young King Arthur
ARTHUR, ST. CARANTOC AND THE DRAGON OF CARHAMPTON
Carhampton, Somerset, is linked to King Arthur and St. Carantoc a Welsh Saint and a Dragon.
In his youth King Arthur ruled the lands around Dunster in alliance with King Cado. St. Carantoc crossed the Bristol Channel looking for his portable altar, Arthur had found it, and hid it under leaves.
Meeting St. Carantoc, Arthur said the altar would only be returned if the Saint could deal with the local dragon.
St. Carantoc used his faith and the dragon climbed out of the local swamp and walked up to St. Carantoc as if it was his pet, a changed and tamed beast.
Arthur returned the altar to the Saint and also gave him lands in Carhampton on which to found a monastery.
See on the Map-olah map:
https://www.zeemaps.com/view?group=2653234&item=Arthur,_St._Carantoc,_and_the_Dragon
Carhampton, Somerset, is linked to King Arthur and St. Carantoc a Welsh Saint and a Dragon.
In his youth King Arthur ruled the lands around Dunster in alliance with King Cado. St. Carantoc crossed the Bristol Channel looking for his portable altar, Arthur had found it, and hid it under leaves.
Meeting St. Carantoc, Arthur said the altar would only be returned if the Saint could deal with the local dragon.
St. Carantoc used his faith and the dragon climbed out of the local swamp and walked up to St. Carantoc as if it was his pet, a changed and tamed beast.
Arthur returned the altar to the Saint and also gave him lands in Carhampton on which to found a monastery.
See on the Map-olah map:
https://www.zeemaps.com/view?group=2653234&item=Arthur,_St._Carantoc,_and_the_Dragon
King Arthur's Round Table
Was a neolithic henge with a central round platform in Cumbria King Arthur's Round Table or Jousting Arena as recorded by John Leland in 1538. John Leland says that he heard locals near Penrith claim it to be, or also possibly Arthur's Castle. Could around 150 knights have met here summoned by their King?
Mayburgh Henge is around 400 metres to the west, with its singular central standing stone, where in earlier centuries had stood four stones ringed by a bank, possibly with stones at the entrance.
See on the Map-olah map:
https://www.zeemaps.com/view?group=2653234&item=King_Arthur's_Round_Table
Mayburgh Henge is around 400 metres to the west, with its singular central standing stone, where in earlier centuries had stood four stones ringed by a bank, possibly with stones at the entrance.
See on the Map-olah map:
https://www.zeemaps.com/view?group=2653234&item=King_Arthur's_Round_Table
Merlin
Stonehenge an ancient ring of standing stones said to have been created, or transported from Ireland, by the magician Merlin from Arthurian legend.
See on the Map-Olah Map:
https://www.zeemaps.com/view?group=2653234&item=Stonehenge
See on the Map-Olah Map:
https://www.zeemaps.com/view?group=2653234&item=Stonehenge
Camelot
KING ARTHUR'S CAMELOT, CADBURY CASTLE, SOUTH CADBURY
Cadbury Castle, in South Cadbury, is an Iron-Age hillfort that was refortified for a brief period between the end of Britain's Roman Occupation and the settlement of the Anglo-Saxons - around the turn of the 5th - 6th Century - making it the most probable location of King Arthur's Camelot.
Leland in 1542 noted that local legend claimed that 'Arthur much resorted there', that Roman finds had been unearthed on the hill-fort and that the locals called it Camallate.
Local legends also tell of ghostly knights travelling through the villages such as the Cadburys and Sutton Montis.
The redevelopment of the hill-fort was by a high-status individual, refortifying a hill-fort on a scale not seen elsewhere at the time.
The name means Cadwy's or Cado's fort, the hill-fort lies at the Northern End of the Cornish / South Western Kingdom Dumnonia stretching from Cornwall's Land's End, through Devon, Dorset and Somerset.
If Arthur was a General or Sub-King under Cadwy was this his Camelot? Was this is base from which he rode out with his mounted warriors to defeat the Anglo-Saxon advance at the Battle of Mount Badon in Bath?
And the local river is the River Cam, was it beneath the hill-fort on the banks of the River Cam that Arthur fought his last battle, Camlann - in a civil-war as the Romano-British King's fought to either uphold or bring down the rise of Arthur and Camelot?
See on the Map-olah map:
https://www.zeemaps.com/view?group=2653234&item=King_Arthur's_Camelot_-_Cadbury_Castle
Cadbury Castle, in South Cadbury, is an Iron-Age hillfort that was refortified for a brief period between the end of Britain's Roman Occupation and the settlement of the Anglo-Saxons - around the turn of the 5th - 6th Century - making it the most probable location of King Arthur's Camelot.
Leland in 1542 noted that local legend claimed that 'Arthur much resorted there', that Roman finds had been unearthed on the hill-fort and that the locals called it Camallate.
Local legends also tell of ghostly knights travelling through the villages such as the Cadburys and Sutton Montis.
The redevelopment of the hill-fort was by a high-status individual, refortifying a hill-fort on a scale not seen elsewhere at the time.
The name means Cadwy's or Cado's fort, the hill-fort lies at the Northern End of the Cornish / South Western Kingdom Dumnonia stretching from Cornwall's Land's End, through Devon, Dorset and Somerset.
If Arthur was a General or Sub-King under Cadwy was this his Camelot? Was this is base from which he rode out with his mounted warriors to defeat the Anglo-Saxon advance at the Battle of Mount Badon in Bath?
And the local river is the River Cam, was it beneath the hill-fort on the banks of the River Cam that Arthur fought his last battle, Camlann - in a civil-war as the Romano-British King's fought to either uphold or bring down the rise of Arthur and Camelot?
See on the Map-olah map:
The Battle of Mount Badon - King Arthur's Greatest Victory
THE SITE OF KING ARTHUR'S GREATEST VICTORY - THE BATTLE OF MOUNT BADON
Bathampton Down, Bath, is the most probable location for the Battle of Mons Badonicus, Mount Badon, a victory by the Romano-British against the invading Anglo-Saxon, long associated with King Arthur.
The earliest account of the Battle of Mount Badon is in the writing of St. Gildas, where the invasion of the Anglo-Saxons is said to be halted by the Romano-British for a generation.
Though, Gildas gives the victory to a figure called Ambrosius Aurelianus.
Nenius lists Arthur's battles as being 12 in number, with the final one being that of Mount Badon, with Arthur being the one to fell all 960 Saxons that are slaughtered, in one single charge.
The legend is further developed that Arthur wins the victory by carrying the image of the Virgin Mary on his shield for three days and nights, and having prayed to the Virgin Mary prior to lifting the Saxon siege.
Why did St. Gildas leave out Arthur in the earliest record of this battle, and give the glory to Ambrosius Aurelianus? a range of theories have been put forward: From the 12th Century view that Arthur was removed from St. Gildas' writing when he killed Gildas' brother; to the details being so well known of the battle by Gildas' audience that he didn't need to recount them fully, and these include the possibility that Ambrosius Aurelianus was the Roman descended campaign leader for the Romano-British, and his front line cavalry warrior, leading the British forces in battle - the Dux Bellorum, - was the local chieftain / warlord Arthur of the Britons.
See on the Map-olah map:
https://www.zeemaps.com/view?group=2653234&item=Site_of_the_Battle_of_Mount_Badon_-_King_Arthur's_Greatest_Victory
Bathampton Down, Bath, is the most probable location for the Battle of Mons Badonicus, Mount Badon, a victory by the Romano-British against the invading Anglo-Saxon, long associated with King Arthur.
The earliest account of the Battle of Mount Badon is in the writing of St. Gildas, where the invasion of the Anglo-Saxons is said to be halted by the Romano-British for a generation.
Though, Gildas gives the victory to a figure called Ambrosius Aurelianus.
Nenius lists Arthur's battles as being 12 in number, with the final one being that of Mount Badon, with Arthur being the one to fell all 960 Saxons that are slaughtered, in one single charge.
The legend is further developed that Arthur wins the victory by carrying the image of the Virgin Mary on his shield for three days and nights, and having prayed to the Virgin Mary prior to lifting the Saxon siege.
Why did St. Gildas leave out Arthur in the earliest record of this battle, and give the glory to Ambrosius Aurelianus? a range of theories have been put forward: From the 12th Century view that Arthur was removed from St. Gildas' writing when he killed Gildas' brother; to the details being so well known of the battle by Gildas' audience that he didn't need to recount them fully, and these include the possibility that Ambrosius Aurelianus was the Roman descended campaign leader for the Romano-British, and his front line cavalry warrior, leading the British forces in battle - the Dux Bellorum, - was the local chieftain / warlord Arthur of the Britons.
See on the Map-olah map:
https://www.zeemaps.com/view?group=2653234&item=Site_of_the_Battle_of_Mount_Badon_-_King_Arthur's_Greatest_Victory
The Defeated King of the Saxons
Legend has it that King Aelle the first King of the South Saxons was buried here after his defeat at Mons Badonnicus (Mount Badon) by the legendary king of the Roman-British resistance to the Saxon advance, King Arthur. The hill is the traditional burial-place of the Kings of Sussex.
See on the Map-Olah Map:
https://www.zeemaps.com/view?group=2653234&item=Golden_Calf_&_King_Aelle_at_Highdown_Hill
See on the Map-Olah Map:
https://www.zeemaps.com/view?group=2653234&item=Golden_Calf_&_King_Aelle_at_Highdown_Hill
King Arthur's Stone
KING ARTHUR'S STONE, GOWER PENINSULA
Maen Ceti, King Arthur's Stone, on the Gower peninsula near Swansea. Was this a pebble that Arthur took from his show, that whilst whizzing thrugh the air magically expanded before falling on the Cefyn Bryn.
Was its capstone cut with a mighty strike from Arthur's sword, Excalibur? Or was it attacked by St. David who disagreed with its pagan links?
Is the magical knight who appears from beneath the stone in the light of a full moon, and walks from Cefyn Bryn towards the village of Llanrhidian, King Arthur?
These the remaining stonesof a Neolithc burial chamber date back to 2,500 BC.
See on the Map-olah Map:
https://www.zeemaps.com/view?group=2653234&item=King_Arthur's_Stone
Maen Ceti, King Arthur's Stone, on the Gower peninsula near Swansea. Was this a pebble that Arthur took from his show, that whilst whizzing thrugh the air magically expanded before falling on the Cefyn Bryn.
Was its capstone cut with a mighty strike from Arthur's sword, Excalibur? Or was it attacked by St. David who disagreed with its pagan links?
Is the magical knight who appears from beneath the stone in the light of a full moon, and walks from Cefyn Bryn towards the village of Llanrhidian, King Arthur?
These the remaining stonesof a Neolithc burial chamber date back to 2,500 BC.
See on the Map-olah Map:
The Isle of Avalon
GLASTONBURY
Glastonbury, Somerset, the magical Isle of Avalon where King Arthur was taken after the Battle of Camlann, where he now lies in the Tor to return as the 'Once and Future King'. Or the final resting place of King Arthur in the grounds of Glastonbury Abbey.
See on the Map-Olah Map:
https://www.zeemaps.com/view?group=2653234&item=Glastonbury
BARDSEY ISLAND - YNYS WITRIN, THE ISLE OF GLASS
Legend has it that Bardsey Island, Gwynedd in Wales, is Ynys Witrin, the fabled Isle of Glass - the Isle of Avalon.
Here lies or lives Merlin in a cave waiting to return when the people of Wales, the Celtic Britons need him most. And, with Merlin, may also lay King Arthur, the 'Once and Future King'.
Its English name means 'Isle of the Bards', and the island is known as the 'Isle of 20,000 Saints', having been a sacred isle used for the burial of the great and good, a centre of the Welsh Christian community, particularly at times of persecution.
The isle is home to the abbey built by St. Cadfan dedicated to St. Mary. Bards called the isle "the road to Heaven, and the gate to Paradise."
See on the Map-olah Map:
https://www.zeemaps.com/view?group=2653234&item=Bardsey_Island_-_The_Isle_of_Glass
Glastonbury, Somerset, the magical Isle of Avalon where King Arthur was taken after the Battle of Camlann, where he now lies in the Tor to return as the 'Once and Future King'. Or the final resting place of King Arthur in the grounds of Glastonbury Abbey.
See on the Map-Olah Map:
https://www.zeemaps.com/view?group=2653234&item=Glastonbury
BARDSEY ISLAND - YNYS WITRIN, THE ISLE OF GLASS
Legend has it that Bardsey Island, Gwynedd in Wales, is Ynys Witrin, the fabled Isle of Glass - the Isle of Avalon.
Here lies or lives Merlin in a cave waiting to return when the people of Wales, the Celtic Britons need him most. And, with Merlin, may also lay King Arthur, the 'Once and Future King'.
Its English name means 'Isle of the Bards', and the island is known as the 'Isle of 20,000 Saints', having been a sacred isle used for the burial of the great and good, a centre of the Welsh Christian community, particularly at times of persecution.
The isle is home to the abbey built by St. Cadfan dedicated to St. Mary. Bards called the isle "the road to Heaven, and the gate to Paradise."
See on the Map-olah Map:
https://www.zeemaps.com/view?group=2653234&item=Bardsey_Island_-_The_Isle_of_Glass
The Birthplace of the Legend - Ribchester Roman Fort and the Sarmatians?
RIBCHESTER ROMAN FORT
The Bremetennacum Roman cavalry fort, built by Spanish cavalry units who were later replaced in the 1st Century by a Sarmatian cavalry unit from Eastern Europe.
The site is famous for the Ribchester Horde, with its golden cavalry helmet, found by a clogmaker's son in 1796, possibly hidden by a soldier around 120AD.
The Sarmatians were a people whose culture centred around the horse, and whose identification with the dragon brought the dragon symbol to Britain.
The traditions of the Sarmatians and the fact that their Roman leader was Lucius Artorius Castus, links them to the legends of King Arthur and the Knights or the Round Table and from thence the Knights Templar. So this site is rich in both History and Legend!
See on the Map-olah Map:
https://www.zeemaps.com/view?group=2653234&item=Ribchester_Roman_Fort_-_Home _of_the_Sarmatian_Dragon_Cavalry
The Bremetennacum Roman cavalry fort, built by Spanish cavalry units who were later replaced in the 1st Century by a Sarmatian cavalry unit from Eastern Europe.
The site is famous for the Ribchester Horde, with its golden cavalry helmet, found by a clogmaker's son in 1796, possibly hidden by a soldier around 120AD.
The Sarmatians were a people whose culture centred around the horse, and whose identification with the dragon brought the dragon symbol to Britain.
The traditions of the Sarmatians and the fact that their Roman leader was Lucius Artorius Castus, links them to the legends of King Arthur and the Knights or the Round Table and from thence the Knights Templar. So this site is rich in both History and Legend!
See on the Map-olah Map:
https://www.zeemaps.com/view?group=2653234&item=Ribchester_Roman_Fort_-_Home _of_the_Sarmatian_Dragon_Cavalry