Castle Grove Camp

Castle Grove Camp sits just outside Wallingford, a proper slice of Iron Age settlement that most people drive straight past without realising. What you're looking at is an ancient fortified enclosure - think defensive ditches and ramparts that would have sheltered a community over two thousand years ago. The site itself is fairly understated; there's no visitor centre or fancy interpretation boards, just the earthworks themselves if you know where to look.

This is absolutely worth visiting if you're into archaeology or British prehistory. Walking the perimeter gives you a real sense of how these Iron Age communities thought about defence and community living. It's not a dramatic hilltop fort - more subtle than that - but the scale of the earthworks does impress once you're actually standing there. Kids might lose interest after half an hour unless they're genuinely fascinated by ancient history; it's not the sort of place with reconstructions or hands-on activities.

Access and facilities aren't straightforward. There's no visitor information readily available online, so contact Wallingford tourist board or the local council before heading out. Parking could be tricky depending on where the site access point is.

Stay at Swiss Farm or Ridgeway View and you're within easy reach - both are under six miles away. Wallingford itself has proper medieval charm if you need something to do between archaeological visits. It's the kind of site that rewards a bit of planning and genuine interest rather than a casual drop-in.