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<< Our Photo Pages >> Gorley Hill - Hillfort in England in Hampshire

Submitted by JimChampion on Sunday, 23 April 2006  Page Views: 9401

Iron Age and Later PrehistorySite Name: Gorley Hill
Country: England
NOTE: This site is 1.658 km away from the location you searched for.

County: Hampshire Type: Hillfort
Nearest Town: Fordingbridge  Nearest Village: Gorley
Map Ref: SU164113
Latitude: 50.900946N  Longitude: 1.768154W
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
Destroyed Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
no data 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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Gorley Hill
Gorley Hill submitted by JimChampion : Panoramic view of the southwest corner of Gorley Common, looking south. The hill fort once occupied this area, but gravel extraction in the 1950s and 1960s removed any evidence of the earthworks. A well-grazed plateau remains, surrounded on some sides by large embankments (the original ground level); the birch trees in the distance are growing on such a bank, and the corner of a bank protrudes fro... (Vote or comment on this photo)
Site of a destroyed hillfort on the western edge of the New Forest, overlooking the Avon valley.

An iron age promontory fort once occupied the southwestern corner of Gorley Common on Gorley Hill - a gravel-capped spur that points southwest into the Avon valley between Fordingbridge and Ringwood. The earthworks were destroyed in the 1950s and 60s when the common's new owners carried out large-scale gravel extraction works, effectively "scalping" the hill. The tall linear earthen banks present on the hill, mostly covered with silver birch trees, are a relic of the quarrying process and not prehistoric in origin.

For some reason the hillfort's northern rampart (with a single entrance) is still shown on the modern 1:25000 Ordnance Survey map, along with the legend 'fort', as it was in the 1940s OS map. There are certainly no remains of this earthwork on the common, just well grazed grass and the occasional gorse brake at a level a few metres below the original plateau. The site is mentioned in the Hampshire Treasures online resource, and Heywood Sumner carried out some excavation at the site which was published in his 1917 book "Ancient Earthworks of the New Forest". [source]

Access The destroyed fort is part of Gorley Common, which has been managed by Hampshire County Council since it purchased the site from the quarry operators in 1995. There is a gravel car park at the northeast corner of the common (grid ref SU168119) at a sharp bend in the Hyde-Ogdens minor road.
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Nearby Images from Geograph Britain and Ireland:
SU1611 : Gorley Common, New Forest by Jim Champion
by Jim Champion
©2006(licence)
SU1611 : Gorley Common, New Forest by Jim Champion
by Jim Champion
©2006(licence)
SU1611 : North Gorley, track by Mike Faherty
by Mike Faherty
©2009(licence)
SU1611 : North Gorley, polytunnels by Mike Faherty
by Mike Faherty
©2009(licence)
SU1611 : Fields and house below Gorley Hill by David Martin
by David Martin
©2022(licence)

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Nearby sites listing. In the following links * = Image available
 1.1km SE 131° Ibsley Common barrows* Barrow Cemetery (SU172106)
 1.4km S 170° South Gorley Bowl Barrow Round Barrow(s) (SU16640997)
 3.0km S 178° Moyles Court bowl barrow* Round Barrow(s) (SU16510833)
 3.9km N 5° Frankenbury* Hillfort (SU167152)
 4.2km SE 125° Castle Piece* Hillfort (SU199089)
 4.6km NE 52° Ashley Walk mound* Artificial Mound (SU20041413)
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 5.6km WSW 257° Plumley Wood* Barrow Cemetery (SU109100)
 6.4km SW 214° Bakers Hanging* Round Barrow(s) (SU128060)
 6.5km WSW 238° Ebblake Barrow* Round Barrow(s) (SU109079)
 6.5km ENE 69° Hiscocks Hill barrow* Round Barrow(s) (SU22481371)
 6.6km NE 49° The Butts (Godshill)* Round Barrow(s) (SU21391565)
 6.7km SSW 213° Ashley Heath* Round Barrow(s) (SU128057)
 6.8km SSW 209° Watchmoor Wood* Round Barrow(s) (SU131054)
 7.0km SW 229° Ashley Heath North* Round Barrow(s) (SU111067)
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 7.2km W 262° Boveridge Heath* Round Barrow(s) (SU093103)
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 7.5km WSW 258° Stephen's Castle Tumulus* Round Barrow(s) (SU091097)
 7.6km SSE 165° Knaves Ash barrow* Round Barrow(s) (SU18430396)
 8.0km SSE 162° Strodgemoor Barrow* Round Barrow(s) (SU18910371)
 8.2km SSE 155° Castle Hill (Hampshire)* Hillfort (SU199039)
 8.2km SSE 150° St Mary's Well (Hampshire)* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (SU2056304175)
 8.2km NE 37° Jacob's Barrow* Round Barrow(s) (SU21321793)
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