The Modern Antiquarian. Stone Circles, Ancient Sites, Neolithic Monuments, Ancient Monuments, Prehistoric Sites, Megalithic MysteriesThe Modern Antiquarian

Old Winchester Hill

Hillfort

Fieldnotes

I had to wait in the car today for a rare (for this area) snowstorm to pass before I could walk to the fort. The light dusting showed the ditch and bank clearly from afar. What is more obvious is that the barrows clearly dominate the skyline for miles around. The fort builders obviously lived in harmony with these relics from an earlier age. The three tumuli in the top look as though they have been robbed in the past, the usual depression in the top, but next door there is a peculiar circular depression with a small bank about 10 M across. Is this the remains of a Bowl barrow or could it be a dew pond? Near the E entrance there is a new (?) circular pond. Near the two entrances are scattered about 13 other barrows. Geophys has found nearly 70 hut platforms on the site. After the blizard had gone the sky cleared and the views were spectacular, I could see Beacon Hill, another fort just outside Newbury and with better eyesight perhaps the barrows on St. Catherines Down on the I.O.W!
Must come here again when the wind chill is not -10 and explore the whole National Nature Reserve.
jimit Posted by jimit
30th January 2003ce
Edited 2nd February 2003ce

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