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North of Hereford, Sutton Walls Hillfort began as a major Iron Age stronghold, later occupied into the Roman period. It is also tied to Saxon legend as the site where King Æthelberht of East Anglia was murdered by King Offa of Mercia in AD 794—an act of political betrayal that marked its shift from tribal centre to royal residence.

These images reveal key phases of the site’s history. The deep hollows visible are the result of 20th-century gravel extraction. While destructive, this work exposed evidence of mass burials—likely Iron Age warriors killed during a Roman assault.

You can clearly see the surviving ramparts, whose steep banks rise sharply from the flat Herefordshire plain. These defences once included a deep V-shaped ditch and timber palisade, making the fort highly defensible and visually imposing.

Today, Sutton Walls appears as a green plateau surrounded by farmland, yet it still retains the commanding presence of a former Mercian power centre.

One of the most striking discoveries came from in the late 1940s. At the western entrance, archaeologists uncovered a mass burial of around 24 young men. The bodies had been thrown into the defensive ditch, many showing signs of extreme violence—decapitation, sword wounds, and injuries from behind, suggesting execution. Dating evidence places this in the mid-1st century AD, during the Roman advance into the Welsh Marches. The findings indicate the fort was violently taken rather than surrendered, with defenders killed at the gate and discarded in the ditch.

The undisturbed western ramparts likely mark the site of this final conflict, capturing a moment of brutal transition from native stronghold to Roman control.

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Co-ordinates: 52.11395, -2.694601 • what3words: ///splits.completed.install

I parked at the junctions of Waterside Road and Cumberland Road, and flew from the car. There is easy access to the riverbank though, to TOAL from there. I did witness people pass me and appear up on the viaduct, but do not know how easy that is.

Spanning the River Trent at Burton, this disused railway previously served Drakelow Power Station and joined the Midland Main Line near Leicester.

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Co-ordinates: 52.78659, -1.638341 • what3words: ///hike.agents.mats

Penrhyn Castle in North Wales has a powerful and complex history. Rising above the landscape near Bangor, Penrhyn Castle appears to be a medieval fortress, but it was actually built in the early 19th century as a grand country house for one of Britain’s wealthiest families.

There were no public footpaths that I could find so I used my Pocket 3 and Air 3s to film there. The latter was using its telephoto 3 x zoom so the footage is a bit basic in order for me to maintain VLOS.

TOAL points reflect the above and were quite a distance away, but using spotlight, and the zoom I was able to focus on the castle and the drone at the same time and get some half decent footage.

I'm a member of the NT so parking isn't an issue, but I have put markers where you can see the castle using the method above.

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Co-ordinates: 53.2259, -4.094619 • what3words: ///entry.watched.existence

In the South Downs village of Bepton is the parish church of St Marys a grade 1 listed building dating from the 13th century. Good south downs walks in the area.

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Co-ordinates: 50.95764, -0.783672 • what3words: ///thread.rekindle.salsa

Dominating the skyline above the Stroud Valley, The Toots on Selsley Common is a magnificent Neolithic long barrow dating back to approximately 3500–4000 BC.

Measuring roughly 64m in length, this "Cotswold-Severn" type tomb served as a communal burial chamber for early farming communities. It predates the Iron Age hillforts I’ve been documenting recently by over two millennia, marking a time when the first settled Britons used monumental architecture to claim ancestral territory.

The photographs showcase the classic "wedge" shape of the barrow. The eastern end is noticeably higher and wider, where the original dry-stone entrance and forecourt would have been located for ritual gatherings.

The wide-angle shots highlight why this specific spot was chosen. Long barrows were often placed on false crests—appearing to sit directly on the horizon when viewed from the valley below—linking the world of the living with the elevated realm of the dead.

The close-up drone shots reveal the undulating surface of the mound. While it remains one of the largest in Gloucestershire, the depressions in the centre are the result of unrecorded "treasure hunting" or early antiquarian digs in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Aside from the long barrow itself, the other visible earthworks on the common are the remains of limestone quarrying. Stone from this area was historically used for local dry stone walls and major projects like the nearby Woodchester Manor

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Co-ordinates: 51.7263, -2.25175 • what3words: ///hippy.enchanted.encounter

Crowning a steep-sided ridge above a dramatic bend in the River Wye, Capler Camp is one of Herefordshire’s most imposing Iron Age hillforts. Occupied from roughly the 4th century BC, this large, bi-vallate (double-ramparted) stronghold served as a vital territorial marker and defensive retreat for local tribes, likely the Dobunni, overseeing the fertile Wye Valley below.

The wide-angle aerials capture the fort's long, narrow footprint. The builders used the natural topography well, letting the sheer southern cliffs do most of the defensive work.

In the top-down perspective the double banks and ditches on the northern side remain well-defined. Even under the canopy of trees, the "V-shaped" profile of the ditches is still visible, showing the massive amount of earth shifted by prehistoric hands.

Regarding the context of the river bend, the panoramas highlight the fort's primary purpose: visibility. From this elevation, the tribe could monitor miles of the River Wye, a major Iron Age transport route. The contrast between the dark, wooded ramparts and the lush, green river meadows below creates a powerful sense of the ancient "frontier" that Capler once guarded.

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Co-ordinates: 51.99331, -2.593741 • what3words: ///racked.leafing.windmills

Dating from the 11th century the parish church of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the West Sussex village of Singleton is a grade 1 listed building.

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Co-ordinates: 50.91005, -0.752574 • what3words: ///ozone.intricate.shakes

Nestled in a secluded Cotswold valley, Woodchester Mansion has been described as the world's most famous "unfinished" house.

Commissioned in 1857, it was designed in the fervent Gothic Revival style. However, in 1873, work abruptly stopped. Legend suggests the masons simply dropped their tools and walked away, leaving a limestone shell that is functionally a time capsule of Victorian construction techniques.

The wide-angle aerial shots capture the mansion's haunting isolation. The intricate roofline, with its sharp gables and soaring chimneys, illustrates the architect’s vision of a "medieval" palace. Because the house lacks internal floors in many areas, the light passes through the structure in a way the architect never intended, highlighting its skeletal beauty.

The panoramas emphasize the mansion's "hidden" nature. The architect purposefully chose the valley floor—the site of an earlier Georgian house—to create a private, monastic retreat. This damp, secluded microclimate has preserved the building but also contributed to the eerie atmosphere that fuels its reputation as a haunted site. This reputation is enhanced by the colony of approximately 200 greater horseshoe bats who live within the attic of the mansion, and have been studied continuously since the mid-1950s

Today, Woodchester is a unique architectural laboratory, offering a rare "X-ray" view into how a grand Victorian house was actually built, from the massive stone drainage systems to the delicate hand-carved details.

Parking is in the National Trust Woodchester Park (Buckholt) car park, but the Mansion is not a NT property, nor is the land it stands on part of the NT estate

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Co-ordinates: 51.71081, -2.277539 • what3words: ///quoted.spouting.swimsuits

Woodchester Park is widely considered a masterpiece of 18th and 19th-century landscape design. Originally a deer park for the Ducie family, it was transformed into a secluded, romantic valley estate.

The park features a chain of five man-made lakes, tiered throughout the valley to create a sense of infinite water and tranquil isolation.

The wide-angle shots capture the serpentine lakes. Notice how they follow the natural curve of the valley floor; this was a hallmark of "picturesque" design, intended to make man-made features appear as if they were sculpted by nature.

The solitary stone boathouse stands as a silent witness to the park’s heyday. Built in the late 19th century, its architecture mirrors the Gothic style of the nearby mansion, serving both a functional and ornamental purpose for the Leigh family’s private recreation.

You can see how the dense, steep-sided woodland hems in the park. This topography creates a unique, damp microclimate that has allowed ancient beech and oak trees to thrive, but it also famously kept the estate hidden from the prying eyes of the Victorian public.

Today, managed by the National Trust, the park is an ecological haven. The contrast between the formal, structured lakes and the encroaching wild woodland provides a vivid visual record of a landscape that was once a private playground and is now a sanctuary for rare wildlife.

TOAL is from outside the NT boundary with a bit of a walk in from 2 possible parking locations – one is in a church car park that is sometimes locked, the other a lay-by on the busy A46 that’s another 0.5 mile walk

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Co-ordinates: 51.71083, -2.268091 • what3words: ///comic.prowling.symphonic

Nestled on the south Downs village of Racton is the tiny grade 1 listed parish church of St Peters dating from the 11th century

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Co-ordinates: 50.87717, -0.892779 • what3words: ///shadow.voter.prefect