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Caesar's Camp (Aldershot)

Hillfort

<b>Caesar's Camp (Aldershot)</b>Posted by GLADMANImage © Robert Gladstone
Nearest Town:Aldershot (3km NE)
OS Ref (GB):   SU835500 / Sheet: 186
Latitude:51° 14' 33" N
Longitude:   0° 48' 13.13" W

Added by pure joy


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Fieldnotes

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Easier Access

Since it was showing a glimmering of Spring we decided to set out for this hillfort. Having read the notes about access we opted to try from the South. Parking in the street at Upper Hale we walked onto the common and across a sandpit. We started seeing the "Water Catchment Area" signs once we had crossed the sandpit but they applied to an area of woodland that is on three sides of the hillfort so you can walk up to and around the fort without crossing into the signed area.

It was good to visit on such a clear day, wonderful views from the top and it's great when a site is actually recognisable from descriptions like the scheduled monument record. The drop on the North is particularly impressive.
Posted by davide
16th March 2004ce
Edited 16th March 2004ce

Caesar’s Camp Hill Fort - 31.5.2003

Caesar’s Camp is a fantastic Iron Age hill fort with stunning views all around, but I’m not convinced about access to it. “Access prohibited - Water Catchment Area” signs are dotted everywhere to the West and North; presumably due to the reservoirs to the West, and the general proximity to the heavily militarised area of Aldershot and Farnborough. However, I saw several people in the area, most at the summit of the fort, so either there is some permitted access somewhere (maybe from the South?) or maybe we were all just ignoring the signs!

After approaching from the west (‘accidentally’ ignoring the signs) and leaving via the north, I’d say that the simplest way to get to the fort without going beyond too many signs is to park at the large but rough car park at SU831510. Apart from here, there is supposed to be no parking just off the main road - there are lots of forest tracks/roads but all say ‘No Parking’ and other various warnings. From here, walk South East through the woods staying just north of the road, and then cross the road somewhere around SU836807. In this area several paths lead to towards the hill fort, which is clearly visible due south.

The hill fort itself is excellent, especially its large and doubled ramparts on the south side. It must have been a brilliant site; a hill with steep sides for defence but a huge flat interior, about 500m across its longest parts. The Surrey / Hampshire border cuts right through the fort. The view stretches for miles across the forest all over the north and west, cut only by the Farnborough Airfield site to the north east, and Tweseldown Race Course to the north west. The space age reservoir cover (?) can be seen from the north side, like a mini Eden Project dome.
pure joy Posted by pure joy
4th June 2003ce

Folklore

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Above Aldershot is a hill called Caesar's Hill. On May 2nd, 1889, I was told that Julius Caesar, from that hill, witnessed a review of his army.
Scraps of Folklore Collected by John Philipps Emslie.
C. S. Burne, in Folklore, Vol. 26, No. 2. (Jun. 30, 1915), pp. 153-170.

Bwakem's comment above: humourous or confused? Surely local people couldn't have got confused so recently to the event? Or perhaps Mr Emslie just wasn't listening properly to his informant. Perhaps it's the latter.
Rhiannon Posted by Rhiannon
1st October 2006ce
Edited 5th November 2006ce

Miscellaneous

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The Hampshire County Council website and the Rushmoor Borough Council website say that it is a Scheduled Ancient Monument (number 20185) - a large multivallate hillfort and later park pale at Caesar's Camp - grid reference SU 8355 5006. Jubilee Clump is a Stone Age (mesolithic) area of the interior of Caesar's Camp. Finds include cores, microliths and two tranchet axes. SU 837 502. pure joy Posted by pure joy
4th June 2003ce

Links

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Info on Caesar’s Camp


Extract from English Heritage’s record of scheduled monuments, via the MAGIC site.
N.B. This is a PDF document.
pure joy Posted by pure joy
20th August 2003ce
Edited 20th August 2003ce