aerial photograph of Old Sarum Wiltshire England UK. Originally an Iron age hillfort built around 400BC the site was occupied through the Roman period and by the Saxons during the dark ages where it was used to defend against Viking raids. A stone castle was built within the hillfort by the Normans shortly after the Norman Conquest of 1066. They also constructed a Cathedral, the remains of which show clearly in the photograph. In the middle ages a new town grew up around the present Salisbury and Old Sarum fell into decline and ruin.