Function
Very little is known about the way of life of the people in this part of Surrey before the Romans arrived. They used iron, grew corn, had coinage, made pots and in north-west Surrey at least, lived in round houses.
One recent suggestion sees a population which farms further north taking their grazing animals - pigs, perhaps cattle and sheep - into summer pastures in the then heathy Hurtwood and wooded Weald.
The fort could have been used by those looking after the beasts, as well as a refuge if required. Another view sees the prominent hill-top as having a religous purpose of some kind.
The Site
On the summit of the hill a double rampart encloses an uneven area. The banks and ditches are well defined where the approaches are gradual.
The main entrance was in the north-west of the enclosure, with a secondary entrance on the east - which may be mediaeval. The fort, formerly known as 'the camp' appears to be all of one construction.
Finds
A tumble of stones found in the deep inner ditch indicated a stone facing to the rampart. Pottery and bones of sheep, ox and wild boar and evidence of fires were found about 18 inches down, close inside the sheltering northen bank.
The shattered pieces of at least twenty querns (left), used for grinding corn, lay in the ditch here and elsewhere.
Baked clay sling-bullets were used for hunting. The sling-stones would hit attackers who had reached the bank between the two ditches; the so-called 'killing field'.
The hill fort as it is today....
The 2005 Project
A grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund has made it possible for visitors to appreciate the design of this hill fort. In addition, with support from the Surrey Hills Partnership, this area is being made a subject for stuidies for local schools.
Material has been prepared for use in classrooms and during vists. Friends of the Hurtwood can download the unedited version of this page from here.
This is an Iron Age pot of a type found at Holmbury.
The fort itself belongs today to the Lee-Steere family of Ockley. Adjoing heathland in the Shere and Gomshall Manors of the Bray family and comprising the Hurtwood, was dedicated for public "air and excercise" by R.A. Bray in 1926. The hill fort is an ancient Scheduled Monument.
Excavations
This hill fort has been excavated twice. Once in 1930 and in 1974 trenches were cut across the ramparts to the south of the ancient entrance, and in places where magnetic anomalies where found.
Above is a Plan of Holmbury Hill Fort reproduced by kind permission of the Society of Antiquaries of London.
