The following are real places which are clearly identifiable in historical texts and which are mentioned in Arthurian legend and romance as being places used by Arthur to hold court. In the romances, Arthur, like all medieval monarchs, moves around his kingdom. •
Caerleon-on-Usk in
Newport, southern Wales. From
Geoffrey of Monmouth. •
London,
Geoffrey of Monmouth. •
Quimper, from the
Lancelot-Grail romance. •
Carlisle,
Cumberland, on the western edge of
Hadrian's Wall (assuming Carlisle is really the
Carduel of the romances). •
Carhaix,
Les premiers faits du roi Arthur. •
Cardigan, from
Chrétien de Troyes. •
St David's, one of Arthur's three courts in the
Welsh Triads. •
Stirling is named in
Beroul's 12th-century
Romance of Tristan.
Unidentified sites •
Celliwig,
Cornwall. Perhaps the earliest known description of a location of an Arthurian court (also in the Welsh Triads).
Kelly Rounds near
St Mabyn, Cornwall, is cited as one of the potential sites. •
Pen Rhionydd, Arthur's northern court in the Welsh Triads. Possibly near
Stranraer in
Rheged.
Camelot Various places have been identified as the location of Camelot, including many of those listed above. Others include: •
Tintagel Castle, Cornwall, where there is evidence of high-status buildings in the 5th and 6th centuries. A sea cave below the castle is known as
Merlin's Cave. •
Winchester, Hampshire, is specifically identified as Camelot by
Thomas Malory.
William Caxton, in his preface to Malory's book, said that the Round Table itself was at Winchester Castle, and that anyone who wished to see it could go there. •
Camelon, near Falkirk, which was spelled Camelo prior to the 19th century. •
Cadbury Castle, Somerset, an Iron Age hill fort referred to as a location for Camelot by
John Leland in 1542. "At the very south end of the church of South-Cadbyri standeth Camallate, sometime a famous town or castle... The people can tell nothing there but that they have heard Arthur much resorted to Camalat..." A well on the ascent is known locally as Arthur's Well, and the highest part of the hill is known as Arthur's Palace, these names being recorded as early as the late 16th century. •
Colchester, a town in
Essex (or its Roman antecedent
Camulodunum), has been cited as one of the potential sites of Camelot. Though the name "Camelot" may be derived from Camulodunum (modern Colchester), the Iron Age capital of the
Trinovantes, and later the provincial capital of Roman Britannia, its location close to England's east coast – and thus very close to the earliest Anglo-Saxon settlements – places it in the wrong Anglo-Saxon kingdom. • The ex-Roman fort of
Camboglanna on
Hadrian's Wall. • Campus Elleti in
Glamorgan. •
Caerwent. •
Llanmelin hill fort near Caerwent. •
Camelford, Cornwall. •
Camaret,
Brittany, France. •
Saltwell Park in
Gateshead. •
Viroconium,
Shropshire. •
Chard, Somerset. • Graig-Llwyn near
Lisvane. • Camlet Moat near Trent Park, by
Enfield Chase, London. •
Slack, near
Huddersfield; the Romans had a fort named
Cambodunum here making the kingdom
Elmet. •
Cadbury Camp, Somerset. •
Roxburgh Castle in the Scottish Borders, proposed by Alistair Moffat in his work
Arthur and the Lost Kingdoms. •
Chester Castle. ==Avalon==