Photos

Look closely - I want to show you this... the shape of the earth isn't natural... you are looking at what is called an ancient earthworks created by people around 500 BC.

The purpose is believed to be for both defence and also to keep animals within the protected area. I have also been to Loughton Camp where the idea of animal tending seems to fit very well as there are many cells, where this one seems more like a protected living area.

None-the-less, I feel these are magical places. I was brought to Loughton Camp quite by accident, but it had a strange feeling about it. I wondered what could have caused this strange geography. Then I learned what I was walking through. The Ambresbury Banks also had a sense of mystery even though I knew what I had come across (it is sign posted along the walking trails in the forest).

It was though that this is where Queen Boadicea died (the ruler at the time who stood up to the Romans), but this has later been found false. I have read elsewhere that she had put up an incredible fight, but when defeat was certain she and all her family took poison before being captured.