Maiden Castle is a settlement in Grinton

Grinton

Grinton is a small village and civil parish in the Yorkshire Dales, in the Richmondshire district of North Yorkshire, England. Close to Reeth and Fremington, it lies 11 miles west of Richmond on the B6270 road.-St Andrew's church:...

, North Yorkshire

North Yorkshire

North Yorkshire is a non-metropolitan or shire county located in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England, and a ceremonial county primarily in that region but partly in North East England. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972 it covers an area of , making it the largest...

  which probably dates from the Iron Age

Iron Age

The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...

. It is listed as a Scheduled Ancient Monument

Scheduled Ancient Monument

In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a 'nationally important' archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorized change. The various pieces of legislation used for legally protecting heritage assets from damage and destruction are grouped under the term...

. The name Maiden Castle is not unique to the site and occurs in several other places in Britain

Maiden Castle

Maiden Castle may refer to:*Maiden Castle, Cheshire, an Iron Age hill fort*Maiden Castle, Dorset, an Iron Age hill fort*Maiden Castle, Durham, an Iron Age promontory fort*Maiden Castle, North Yorkshire, an Iron Age settlement...

 and probably means a "fortification that looks impregnable" or one that has never been taken in battle.

The site measures 108 by, covering about 7000 m² (1.7 acre), and is pear-shaped. An avenue leading to the entrance of the settlement is a unique feature. Maiden Castle has been described as a banjo enclosure

Banjo enclosure

In archaeology, Banjo enclosure is the name given to a type of archaeological feature of the British middle Iron Age. They are so named because in plan they consist of a small round area with a long entrance track leading inwards from one direction. This gives them the appearance in plan of frying...

 due to its shape, however this description has been disputed. If it is a banjo enclosure, it would be one of just two in northern England, the other being Fremington Dykes.

The only dating evidence recovered from Maiden Castle is the a "post-and-panel building" which is typologically

Typology (archaeology)

In archaeology a typology is the result of the classification of things according to their characteristics. The products of the classification, i.e. the classes are also called types. Most archaeological typologies organize artifacts into types, but typologies of houses or roads belonging to a...

 similar to a structure discovered in Healaugh

Healaugh

Healaugh is a small village and civil parish in Swaledale in the Yorkshire Dales. It is in the Richmondshire district of North Yorkshire, England and lies about 1 mile west of Reeth....

 that has been dated to the late Iron Age or Romano-British

Roman Britain

Roman Britain was the part of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire from AD 43 until ca. AD 410.The Romans referred to the imperial province as Britannia, which eventually comprised all of the island of Great Britain south of the fluid frontier with Caledonia...

periods.