Queen Camel: an English village in the land of Camelot

The curious name of Queen Camel has nothing to do with the animal: it comes from old Celtic words for a bare ridge, recorded long before the Norman conquest. This Somerset village of around a thousand people stands on the little River Cam, and the river, the village and the nearby hillfort of Cadbury have together fed one of England's most enduring legends.

Camelot country

A few miles away rises Cadbury Castle, an Iron Age hillfort that local tradition, first written down in 1542, identified as King Arthur's Camelot. Some have even linked the River Cam and Queen Camel to the legendary Battle of Camlann. Whatever the truth, the gentle countryside of orchards and blue lias stone makes fine walking near the supposed seat of the Round Table.

The church of St Barnabas

The village's 14th-century parish church, reached up a cobbled lane, is a Grade I listed building with a lofty tower, a host of grotesque carvings and one of the heaviest sets of six bells in Europe. Much of the northern part of the village was rebuilt after a fire in 1639.

Visiting

Queen Camel lies about seven miles north of Yeovil on the A359, an easy detour for anyone exploring Arthurian Somerset and nearby Glastonbury.