Motte & Bailey

The earthworks are what grab you first - those distinctive twin mounds rising from the Warwickshire countryside just outside Banbury. This is a proper Norman motte-and-bailey fortress, the kind William the Conqueror's lot threw up across England to remind the locals who was boss. You're looking at roughly a thousand years of history sitting in a field, though what you actually see is the defensive ditch and those raised banks where wooden palisades once stood.

It's a free site and accessible year-round, which makes it solid for a quiet afternoon if you're camping nearby - Mount Farm Park sits barely walking distance away, and several other caravan sites cluster within a few miles. Don't expect visitor facilities or interpretation boards; this is archaeology for people who genuinely enjoy reading the land itself. Kids might find it dull after twenty minutes unless they're into fort-building, but walkers and history types will get a proper sense of Norman military strategy just by standing on the mound.

Allow an hour if you're thorough, half that if you're just popping over from your caravan. The site's free, which means no official opening times to worry about - turn up when it suits you. It works best as part of a broader Warwickshire archaeology day rather than a destination in itself. The real value here is how it sits in the landscape and what it tells you about medieval power structures. If you're after somewhere to stretch your legs between campsite and town, this does the job nicely.