Woolbury, or Woolbury Ring, is the site of an
Iron Age
The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...
univallate hillfort
A hillfort is a type of fortified refuge or defended settlement located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typical of the late European Bronze Age and Iron Age. Some were used in the post- Roman period. The fortif ...
on
Stockbridge Down,
Hampshire
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...
, England.
Description
The site is described as a strong hilltop camp covering , with a single bank and ditch, and has commanding views over the surrounding area. The bank and ditch are well preserved to the west, the bank being high and 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 western side; the interior is down to permanent pasture.
Only the southwest rampart (which includes the original entrance) is in
National Trust
The National Trust () is a heritage and nature conservation charity and membership organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The Trust was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley to "promote the ...
ownership; the rest is private land.
The site is designated as a scheduled monument.
There are a number of other archaeological sites in the area, including a
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...
bowl barrow
A bowl barrow is a type of burial mound or tumulus. A barrow is a mound of earth used to cover a tomb. The bowl barrow gets its name from its resemblance to an upturned bowl. Related terms include ''cairn circle'', ''cairn ring'', ''howe'', ''ker ...
mound of approximately in diameter and in height at and recorded in an Anglo-Saxon charter as ''Heardulfe's Hlaewe'' or ''Heardulfe's Barrow''.
The area is now subject to ploughing. In addition, several other
tumuli
A tumulus (: tumuli) is a mound of Soil, earth and Rock (geology), stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds, mounds, howes, or in Siberia and Central Asia as ''kurgans'', and may be found through ...
are to be found south of the hillfort.
Location
The site is at , east of the village of
Stockbridge, in the county of
Hampshire
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...
.
Danebury
Danebury is an Iron Age hillfort in Hampshire, England, about north-west of Winchester (). Retrieved on 23 July 2008. The site, covering , was excavated by Barry Cunliffe in the 1970s. Danebury is considered a type site for hillforts, a ...
hillfort lies close by to the west, over the
River Test
The River Test is a chalk stream in Hampshire in the south of England. It rises at Ashe near Basingstoke and flows southwards for to Southampton Water. Settlements on the Test include the towns of Stockbridge and Romsey. The river's vall ...
. The hill has a summit of
above ordnance datum
An ordnance datum (OD) is a vertical datum used by an ordnance survey as the basis for deriving altitudes on maps. A spot height may be expressed as above ordnance datum (AOD). Usually mean sea level (MSL) at a particular place is used for the ...
(AOD).
White horse and cross
On the southern ramparts of Woolbury Ring is a
hill figure
A hill figure is a large visual representation created by cutting into a steep hillside and revealing the underlying geology. It is a type of geoglyph usually designed to be seen from afar rather than above. In some cases trenches are dug and ...
of a horse. Whilst there are 17 white horse hill figures in England, with nine being nearby in Wiltshire, this is the only example in Hampshire. The horse was constructed crudely of rough flints, painted white and pushed into the ground to form the shape of the horse. The earliest documentation of the horse is in 1846. The horse for many years was covered by the surrounding bushes but in 1999, the site was cleared so the horse become visible again.
There was also a hill figure of a cross nearby, only a few yards from Winchester Road, constructed using the same method. This was lost in 1944.
References
See also
*
List of places in Hampshire
This is a list of settlements in the county of Hampshire, England. Places highlighted in bold type are towns or cities.
The Isle of Wight was in Hampshire until 1890. Bournemouth and adjacent parishes in the far west were transferred to the cer ...
*
List of hillforts in England
See also
* List of hill forts in Scotland
* List of hill forts in Wales
*Iron Age, British Iron Age, prehistory
References
;Bibliography
*
Further reading
*
*
*
External links
* A crowd-sourced project to map the hillforts of Britain and ...
{{Iron Age hillforts in England
Iron Age sites in England
Buildings and structures in Hampshire
Hill forts in Hampshire
Scheduled monuments in Hampshire