Legend says that...
King Arthur...
King Arthur Pendragon
5th Century Romano British Leader
Or Wielder of Excalibur and King of England. Dive into the fascinating and mythical history of the legend himself Arthur Pendragon. Explore Cadbury Castle hill fort and the ambience of the rumoured roundtable with Lancelot and the other knights.
Arthur, a Celtic king born of deceit and adultery, grew to become one of the most famous rulers of Britain. He was a warrior, a knight and a king who killed giants, witches and monsters and led a band of heroes on many daring adventures. He is known for his Knights of the Round Table and for uniting the peoples of his land. Even though his end was tragic, he is still known and celebrated all over the world today. His story is painted on the halls of the British Parliament.
Arthur's story begins with Uther Pendragon, his father. Pendragon is smitten by Igraine, the wife of the Duke of Cornwall. Disguising himself as Igraine's husband he sneaks into her bed and she conceives Arthur. Merlin the wizard raises Arthur away from his parents. It is Merlin who had designed for Arthur's father Uther a great Round Table at which 150 knights could sit. Upon Uther's death, the knights do not know who should take his place. Merlin tells them that whoever could draw a mysterious sword out of a stone should be the next king. Many try but all fail. Then one day Arthur, who is attending his foster brother Sir Kay, is sent to find a sword to replace his brother's broken one. He comes upon the magical sword Excalibur in the stone and, not knowing the prophecy, drew it out. Thus, he is proclaimed the new king.
Interest in Cadbury stretches back into antiquarian times mainly because of its traditional association with the legendary King Arthur, both John Leland and William Camden writing in the 16th century emphasise this link .
- South Cadbury Environs Project, Oxford University/Bristol University
Visible from Glastonbury Tor to the north-west, Cadbury Castle is the site of an Iron Age hill fort, as well as being the most likely site for Camelot, forever linked to 'King' Arthur thanks to medieval revisions of earlier texts.
Modern Archaeology: Taking their lead from Leyland's writings, in 1965, the Camelot Research Committee was set up to excavate large areas of the South Cadbury Castle Hillfort. They soon discovered that the fort had indeed been re-fortified in post-Roman times. The ramparts were strengthened with large quantities of dressed masonry from derelict Roman buildings and mounted by raised wooden walkways. The very name of the Camelot Research Committee gave the impression that the excavations at South Cadbury were specifically looking for King Arthur's Court and therefore, if anything from the appropriate period was discovered, obviously that's exactly what it must represent. Of course, the excavations came up trumps and the media were very quick to jump onto the King Arthur band wagon; not to mention the local Somerset tourist industry which now won't hear of any other site being suggested as "Camelot".
- https://www.earlybritishkingdoms.com/archaeology/cadbury.html
