<< Our Photo Pages >> Woolbury - Hillfort in England in Hampshire

Submitted by vicky on Thursday, 25 March 2004  Page Views: 16148

Iron Age and Later PrehistorySite Name: Woolbury Alternative Name: Woolbury Ring
Country: England County: Hampshire Type: Hillfort
Nearest Town: Andover  Nearest Village: Little Somborne
Map Ref: SU381353  Landranger Map Number: 185
Latitude: 51.115730N  Longitude: 1.457067W
Condition:
5Perfect
4Almost Perfect
3Reasonable but with some damage
2Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site
1Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks
0No data.
-1Completely destroyed
 3 Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
 3 Access:
5Can be driven to, probably with disabled access
4Short walk on a footpath
3Requiring a bit more of a walk
2A long walk
1In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find
0No data.
 4 Accuracy:
5co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates
4co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map
3co-ordinates scaled from a bad map
2co-ordinates of the nearest village
1co-ordinates of the nearest town
0no data
 3

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Andy B: would like to visit Hillfort very close to Danebury shown in BBC History of Celtic Britain

JimChampion has visited here

Woolbury
Woolbury submitted by JimChampion : May 2005. Looking north from yet another Beacon Hill - this time in the Farley Mount country park. Woolbury hillfort can be seen in the middle distance, about 4 miles away. The visible southern side is gentle slope (Stockbridge Downs) but the far side is much steeper. It is also possible to see the heavily defended Danebury hillfort from this spot, but it was lost in the haze on this particular af... (Vote or comment on this photo)
Hillfort in Hampshire

The Hampshire Treasures online resource describes Woolbury as "A strong hilltop camp covering 20 acres, with single bank and ditch. The bank and ditch is well preserved to the west, the bank being 9 ft. high and 16 ft. above the bottom of the ditch. The eastern side has been ploughed out, and the ditch only remains to the north and south. The entrance is on the west side, the interior is down to permanent pasture. "

The NW side of the hillfort is very steep indeed, and towers over the A30 road below. Only the SW rampart (which includes the original entrance) is in National Trust ownership; the rest is private land. Not much for the visitor to see other than the ditch and rampart, but offers superb views of the surrounding area.

Access The car park for Stockbridge Down is located at grid ref SU388345. Driving along the B3049 from Stockbridge to Winchester, its on the left about 2 miles from Stockbridge.
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Woolbury
Woolbury submitted by JimChampion : Long distance shot of Woolbury from Beacon Hill near Farley Mount. Lots of undulating chalk downland between these two hills. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Woolbury
Woolbury submitted by JimChampion : A view from Woolbury's rampart, with the ditch and entrance causeway in the foreground. I had earlier driven past the anonymous gentleman (seen here on the causeway) who was walking along the busy narrow A30 road - not the safest thing to be doing! (Vote or comment on this photo)

Woolbury
Woolbury submitted by JimChampion : As the sign says, the interior of Woolbury hillfort is private land, but the soutwest portion of the ditch and rampart is on the freely accessible National Trust land. This spot was the original entrance to the fort - a causeway crosses the ditch behind the camera. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Woolbury
Woolbury submitted by JimChampion : Looking at the southwestern bank and ditch of Woolbury hillfort. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Woolbury
Woolbury submitted by JimChampion : View of the area enclosed by the ramparts of Woolbury hillfort, looking from the southwest. The southwestern rampart is on National Trust land, but the rest (seen here) is private land. The information board at the Stockbridge Down car park says that the hillfort was built around 500 BCE and the interior was used as an animal enclosure and a refuge for the farming community.

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Nearby sites listing. In the following links * = Image available
 510m S 169° Stockbridge Down field boundary* Misc. Earthwork (SU382348)
 720m SW 214° Stockbridge Down Bowl Barrows* Round Barrow(s) (SU377347)
 4.7km NE 51° Middlebarn Farm Long Barrow Long Barrow (SU4177438299)
 5.6km N 11° St Peter and Holy Cross (Wherwell) Ancient Cross (SU39154082)
 6.2km WNW 293° Danebury Ring* Hillfort (SU32353769)
 6.4km SSE 168° Withering Corner Barrow Cemetery (SU395291)
 6.7km SSE 161° Farley Mount* Round Barrow(s) (SU403290)
 6.8km WNW 297° Danebury East Long Barrow (SU320383)
 6.8km SSE 152° Robin Hood's Barrow (Winchester)* Round Barrow(s) (SU41322927)
 6.9km WNW 296° Danebury West Long Barrow (SU319383)
 7.3km SE 143° West Wood Bowl Barrow* Round Barrow(s) (SU42522949)
 8.3km SSW 193° Stubb's Copse Round Barrow(s) (SU36362722)
 8.4km ESE 113° Flowerdown Barrows* Barrow Cemetery (SU459320)
 8.5km ENE 63° Sutton Scotney Enclosure* Misc. Earthwork (SU457392)
 9.0km NNW 337° Bury Hill (Hampshire)* Hillfort (SU345435)
 9.1km E 85° South Wonston* Barrow Cemetery (SU4723736091)
 9.5km N 10° Old Pound Camp Misc. Earthwork (SU39634465)
 9.8km SSE 156° Merdon Castle* Hillfort (SU421264)
 10.5km ENE 63° Kitson's Clump* Round Barrow(s) (SU47454010)
 10.5km W 272° Lopcombe Disc Barrow Round Barrow(s) (SU27563561)
 10.6km N 352° Andover Museum of the Iron Age* Museum (SU36614579)
 10.9km ESE 121° Oram's Arbour Hillfort (SU475297)
 11.1km NE 47° Tidbury Ring* Hillfort (SU462429)
 11.2km SE 138° Texas Barrows* Round Barrow(s) (SU4558926993)
 11.2km ESE 122° Hampshire Jubilee Sculpture* Modern Stone Circle etc (SU477295)
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"Woolbury" | Login/Create an Account | 4 News and Comments
  
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Street View by coldrum on Saturday, 27 March 2010
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Re: Woolbury by JimChampion on Wednesday, 02 August 2006
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[Not prehistoric!] England's smallest hillfigure is supposed to lie on Woolbury's southern rampart at grid ref SU38103516. The horse, which dates from before 1859, is made out of flints pressed into the ground. I know summer's not the best time of year to look for it, but this was the second time I failed to find it, even though I know exactly where it should be (and I've seen it on fairly recent aerial photos). I'm hoping its not been destroyed.

Its referred to on the Hampshire Treasures website: Link
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Re: Woolbury by Aine on Saturday, 19 February 2005
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I visited this site yesterday (18/2/05). I was interested in the winding trackway that weaves itself down the hill slope and across the Down. It may originate from the hillfort and seems to end in the direction of the road to Stockbridge. I have seen medieval trackways in Wiltshire that look like these. Some go back even further into the Iron Age and continued in use into the post medieval time. This one peters out in a clump of gorse bushes about 100 yards away from the road! The trackways in Wiltshire run from a road in a valley bottom and continue over a ridge and down the other side. Looking at an aerial map of Woolbury I notice similar soil marks within the hillfort itself. Perhaps the trackway is similar here?
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    Re: Woolbury by JimChampion on Sunday, 29 May 2005
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    The "trackway" you saw is probably the snaking earthwork that marks the boundary of a Bronze Age field system on Stockbridge Down. It is mysteriously marked as 'earthwork' on the pink OS map, but it does have its own page here on the portal. I always think its amazing that such small-scale earthworks have survived the ages: most of these must have been erased by ploughing over the centuries.

    There are a many spectacular medieval trackways in the Hamphsire chalkland - they are sometimes called 'hollow ways' because of the way that over many centuries the traffic resulted in deep grooves in the chalk. The chalk from the 'ditches' of the hollow ways was eroded away, in contrast to the chalk from the prehistoric earthworks which was deliberately dug and piled up to form banks.

    Some trackways, like those approaching Winchester from the South Downs, have prehistoric origins, although the actual hollow ways we see today are certainly a result of the heavy medieval traffic.

    Note that we (modern society) have added our own "hollow way" through Twyford Down in the form of the M3 cutting, which truncates the ancient route.
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