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Collapsed stone walls line the processional entrance to Maiden Castle (Walk 14)

While habitation sites and field systems from earlier eras are known, their more prominent traces have been largely obliterated by later settlement, and there is little visible evidence pre-dating the Iron Age. The area fell within the territory of a British tribe known as the Brigantes, and many settlement sites and earthwork structures have been identified. Maiden Castle above Reeth and the extensive fortification surrounding the summit of Ingleborough are amongst the most spectacular examples.

Although the Romans did establish a permanent fort at Bainbridge around AD80, they never really subjugated the hill tribes. In fact there appears to have been a relatively peaceful co-existence with lowland farmers, who would have found ready markets for their produce in the Roman economy until the eventual withdrawal of the occupation forces a little over three centuries later. The enigmatic patterns of those small Celtic fields still survive in several places, most notably above Malham and Grassington.