Gorley Hill
| Gorley Hill | |
|
Hampshire | |
|---|---|
| |
| Type: | Hill fort |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SU164113 |
| Location: | 50°54’10"N, 1°45’54"W |
| History | |
| Information | |
| Condition: | Destroyed |
Gorley Hill is the site of a former Iron Age promontory hillfort in Hampshire.
The fort once occupied the south-western corner of Gorley Common on Gorley Hill, a gravel-capped spur that points southwest into the valley of the River Avon next to the hamlet of North Gorley, between the towns of Fordingbridge and Ringwood. It is immediately to the north of Huckles Brook, a tributary of the Avon, which itself flows to the west. The hill has a summit of 230 feet above sea level.
The earthworks were destroyed in the 1950s and 1960s 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 are a relic of the quarrying process and not prehistoric in origin.[1] The site is now grass, with some gorse and silver birch. The area is now owned and managed by the local council.
Heywood Sumner carried out some excavation at the site which was published in his 1917 book Ancient Earthworks of the New Forest.