Wandlebury Hill

Infobox Mountain
Name = Wandlebury Hill
Photo = Wandlebury.jpg
Caption = The stable block at Wandlebury House
Elevation = 74 m (243 ft)
Location = Gog Magog Downs, England
Range =
Prominence = 10 m
Parent peak = Great Wood Hill
Coordinates =
Topographic
OS "Landranger" 154
Type =
Age =
Easiest route =
Grid_ref_UK = TL493533

Wandlebury Hill (gbmapping|TL493534) is a hill in the Gog Magog Downs, a ridge of low chalk hills extending for several miles to the southeast of Cambridge. The underlying rock is present in a number of places on the hill. At 74 m/243 ft it is the same height as the nearby Little Trees Hill, although the latter is a more notable landmark.

The top stands in Wandlebury Country Park, a nature reserve owned by the Cambridge Preservation Society. Wandlebury was already inhabited in the Bronze Age ["Over the Hills to Cherry Hinton", H. C. Coppock, 1984, Plumridge, Linton, Cambridge, p.14.] and 2500 years ago there was an Iron Age hill fort here known as Wandlebury Ring. This hill fort once had concentric ditches and earthen walls which were kept in place by wooden palisades. Many skeletons were found here as well as iron and bronze objects and pottery dating from the Bronze Age ["Where Troy Once Stood", I. Wilkens, 2005, Gopher Publishers, Netherlands, p. 79.] . Although the fort has vanished, the ditch (the Ring) dug around the edge can clearly be seen and walked along, being 5 metres deep in places and offering an adventurous route along its edge. Wandlebury House, home of among others, Francis Godolphin, stood within the Ring. The house has been demolished but the monumental stable block remains and is used as the headquarters of the Cambridge Preservation Society. The grave of the Godolphin Barb horse can be seen.

The reserve is an excellent place for birdwatching and is a beautiful place for an early morning stroll. Like Little Trees Hill, the summit is on public land and is accessible when sheep are not in the field, as there is an electric fence, in which the trig point stands. It can be reached by walking across the field from post 3 of the nature trail. Virtually no climb is involved in the ascent, just a pleasant stroll through woodland.

References

External links

* [http://www.ucl.ac.uk/prehistoric/past/past31.html The Prehistoric Society on Bronze Age ritual activity]
*GBvosi|e=549300|n=253400|cty=|txt=Map published in 1891
* [http://www.cpswandlebury.org/page2.html The Cambridge Preservation Society's page about Wandlebury]

ee also

*List of hill forts in England
*List of hill forts in Scotland
*List of hill forts in Wales