When was Caesar's camp castle built?

Answer 1

Two points that should be emphasised:

• there are many places in England that are called "Caesar's Camp" and none of them have anything to do with Julius Caesar
• None of the places with that name are castles, but the one at Folkestone had a later castle built on top of it.

"Caesar's Camp" near Folkestone in Kent was originally an Iron Age hill fort, later converted into a castle during the medieval period. The earth and timber castle was built shortly after the Norman invasion in 1066 and it has almost destroyed all traces of the earlier hill fort. The castle was still in use in 1137 but must have fallen into disuse shortly after that date.

"Caesar's Camp" near Aldershot in Hampshire is another Iron Age hill fort.

"Caesar's Camp" at Bracknell in Berkshire is an excellent example of an Iron Age contour fort, with earth walls following the contours of the hills and valleys around its edge. It has never been excavated so no exact date is attributed to it.

"Caesar's Camp", Sandy, Bedfordshire is yet another Iron Age hill fort.

All of these places were built by the Ancient British tribes before the Roman conquest of Britain; some were abandoned long before that time. They had rings of earth embankments with deep ditches in between, with walls of sharpened poles along the tops of the banks. Very often there were thatched round-houses within the forts, which served as places of refuge, secure grazing for animals and centres of trade.