Iron Age Britain

Appox. 700 BC to 43 AD

The Iron Age is another era marked by the influx of people and knowledge from the continent. The expanding Roman Empire although not yet reaching Britain has put pressure on the tribes of northern and Western Europe to either bow to Roman occupation or to seek new lands. For the whole of the Iron Age there is a steady flow of Celtic immigrants into Britain until the arrival of Julius Caesar and the Roman Legions made further running away pointless.

The Iron Age peoples of Britain lived in what we think were tribal settlements. These settlements occupied low ground clearances in a generally forested landscape. The lighter soils of the high ground being reserved for agriculture and husbandry. There were no towns as we would know them but local and inter-tribal trade was carried on, we believe, within the confines of the Hill Forts. These Hill Forts not only providing sanctuary in time of conflict but also acting as boundary markers, tribal status symbols, market and meeting places in times of peace. We can assume that the tribe that controlled the massive ramparts of Maiden Castle were both wealthy and influential.

Maiden Castle, Iron Age Hill Fort

Even after 2,000 years the ditches and banks of Maiden Castle Hill Fort are a spectacular impression in the British landscape. Covering an are of over 45 acres the site was occupied as early as 3,000 BC although the site we see today is largely Iron Age construction. There are literally hundreds of such sites in the United Kingdom but most are rather smaller than Maiden Castle, the largest Iron Age Hill Fort in Europe.

Primitive Ring Money was already in use in Britain by the end of the Bronze Age but it is in the Iron Age that we first come across the common use of coinage. Initially these coins were brought to Britain from Gaul (France) and Belgae (Belgium) but by the end of the period are being struck in many locations within Britain.

Agriculture continues to develop with improvements in seed along with the introduction of the plough enables to population to continue to grow. Once the battle to provide food has been overcome it provides any community with the time to explore other pursuits be they beneficial like industry and trade or destructive like war.

It was the success of the agricultural and mineralogical industries of these new settlers that actually attracted the Romans to Britain so in a way they were authors of their own downfall.  As we have stated before Copper, Tin and to a lesser extent Gold was to be found in abundance in Britain as were significant surface deposits of Iron Ore. One can still find, now uneconomic, quantities of these ores at the surface in many places in the United Kingdom.