Maiden Castle hill fort, nr. Dorchester, Dorset

This crop circle was first reported on the 26th of July and is situated below the magnificent Maiden Castle hill fort in Dorset. It measures approximately 300ft in diameter and is in a field of mature wheat.

The circle is an intriguing design, with a simple flattened circle at the centre followed by a plain ring. Next is a very thin ring with several circles of differing sizes sat upon it. They are asymmetrically placed and look incredibly like planets on an orbit. Finally, the wide outer ring is filled with six equal sections of varying standing bands and boxes – giving it a faintly computer chip feel. It looked very striking in the late afternoon sunshine. It was certainly a interesting juxtaposition of old and new, the ancient hill fort and the modern crop circle.

The past couple of weeks have seen some very unseasonal  weather in the UK. Temperatures have been low for the time of year and we have seen a series of blustery and wet weather fronts batter the country. Apparently this is due to the low position of the jet stream. It’s made flying some of the most recent formations challenging and tricky. This flight was no exception. While it was raining as we took off in Hampshire, the Dorset coast was beautifully sunny and warm! On the way back however, our route was blocked by a massive rain storm. As we approached it we could feel the power in the atmosphere, and see the rain falling in a deluge from the massive cloud. it was a humbling, if a little scary experience! We had to re-route the helicopter around the storm to get home. There is no way our little aircraft could have flown through that.

While large in crop circle terms (the average cop circle diameter is 200ft), this formation was dwarfed by the hill fort itself. Maiden Castle, near Dorchester is the largest hill fort in England. It dates back to the Bronze Age and was first occupied in around 3000 BC. The hill fort is known for its beautiful elongated shape and it’s fine, deep banks and ditches. Some of the ramparts reach 6 metres high and at one time a barrow measuring approx. 540m was constructed on top. The name apparently comes from the Celtic ‘Mai Dun’ meaning big hill. The hill fort offers stunning views of nearby Dorchester and Poundbury – and a great view of the crop circle too! You can read more about Maiden Castle here.

You can buy photo enlargements of this crop circle on our online shop, it is also included in our 2015 box set of 7 x 5 prints and will be included in our Crop Circle Year Book 2015 published later this year. Visit our shop to find out more!

NOTE: Some of the images below are beautiful landscape scenes. Click on each image to enlarge them and see the whole picture.

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Geometry Gallery

This formation is composed of mainly circular elements, but its outer ring is divided in to six boxes which are then etched out in to different designs. It’s another one for the drawing board!