Gorley Hill

This afternoon we drove to the north of the forest.

Anna Lane is just one of the lanes we negotiate on our trips, so narrow that traffic spans the centre leaving it free of wheels and therefore grass-covered soil untouched in the middle. When you meet an oncoming vehicle one has to end up on the verge.

From the road up to Gorley Common we looked down on

deer which today didn’t sniff a scent of us;

can you spot this baby hiding behind its mother?

The Common, with its distant view is all that remains of

“Gorley Hill … the site of a former Iron Age promontory hillfort located in Hampshire in the United Kingdom.

The fort once occupied the southwestern corner of Gorley Common on Gorley Hill, a gravel-capped spur that points southwest into the Avon valley next to the hamlet of North Gorley, between the towns of 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 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 Hampshire County Council.

Heywood Sumner carried out some excavation at the site which was published in his 1917 book Ancient Earthworks of the New Forest.[2]“

This evening we dined on Jackie’s authentic chicken jalfrezi and mushroom rice, with which I finished the Alentejano.

62 comments

    1. I agree with you about the magical, timeless feel to Gorley Common Road, Merril. It’s the type of road I love to walk on, just to see what’s around the next bend.

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  3. It’s unfortunate that the hill was scalped, it looks like a lovely area though. I wonder why the roads aren’t made wider for the traffic?

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    1. They were made for the days without traffic – when people walked or rode horses. Thanks very much, John

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  4. Enjoying the photos and interesting history of Gorley Hill!
    OH my gosh and golly! I do see the baby deer! What a cutie!
    The roads blanketed with greenery and sheltered by trees holding-hands are so so SO lovey!
    I think verge is a great word!
    (((HUGS))) and ❤️❤️ for you and Jackie!! 🙂

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  6. I love it when I have the treat of seeing a herd of deer. My neighbours see them regularly; i must look out of the window at the wrong times because I’ve only seen them twice in our fields in the 48 years of living here. What a lucky day for you.

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    1. Yes. We had thought we were not going to see any wildlife by the time I spotted them. Thank you very much, Sue

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  14. These accounts of your forest drives turn my thoughts to the almost daily drives I used to do with my son once he had finished work. We would drive along a country road past farms and wildlife areas. He now lives in Glasgow and I was telling him that I would be driving along that road on our way home from lunching at a farm today: he can still recall almost every twist and turn and what animals we tended to see where! I have thoroughly enjoyed this post.

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  17. Appreciate the historical note, Derrick 🙂 It’s a reminder that one is not the first to live and move across a given landscape. I imagine that much caution is needed when driving along Anna Lane.

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  19. Too bad the area was excavated for gravel and effectively destroyed.

    I can see the fawn behind its mother. Beautiful photos, Derrick and Jackie. Thank you for these virtual tours and history lessons!

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