A mere ten miles or so to the west of Petertsfield stands Old Winchester Hill, one of the most prominent landmarks at the western end of the Downs. It commands magnificent views in all directions, across the Solent to the Isle of Wight to the south, towards Winchester to the west, miles across Hampshire to the north and across to Butser to the east. It is difficult to say who are most attracted to Old Winchester, historians or nature lovers. It is a paradise for both.T he South Downs have been inhabited since Stone Age times, but the first obvious signs of life here are the great burial mounds, or tumuli, right at the top of the hill.

These, and others nearby, mark the cremations of Bronze Age people 4000 years ago, whose ashes were placed in a urn and covered with a huge mound of earth, at one time gleaming white, no doubt.

But still more spectacular must have been the hill fort built a thousand or so years later. This was one of a long series of hill-top settlements stretching from Cissbury Ring in the east to Danebury Hill in the west, providing magnificent vantage points over the surrounding countryside.

The defences at Old Winchester Hill consisted of a single bank and a ditch, with entrances east and west, all enclosing about four acres. Within there would have been timber round houses and pits in which to store grain. Today the hill probably offers more to the naturalist than the historian, however. But a warning is necessary for prospective visitors, as the secluded car park is a prime site for thieves and vandals, and several notices remind us to remove valuables and lock up carefully.

It is quite a long walk along the eastern slopes to the hill fort, but the grassland, scrub and woodland that have developed on the edge of the site harbour a wide variety of wildlife, whereas the short, springy turf of the hill itself, produced by centuries of grazing, is rich in the wild flowers which once covered most of the Downs. Dormice, badgers, foxes and roe deer live in the woodland, while skylarks and the lordly buzzard rule the skies. Cowslips, wild orchids and ox-eye daisies abound in early summer, and, especially on fine days, the herb-rich grass shimmers with marbled white and meadow brown butterflies, while beautiful chalk-hill blues feed on wild marjoram later in the summer.

Old Winchester Hill, between East Meon and Warnford, and reached by a string of narrow lanes from either, is a National Nature Reserve, managed by Natural England, the new brand name for English Nature, who carefully mage the various different habitats in a variety of traditional and mechanical ways. There are several marked trails, some steep for the energetic, some gentle, and a visit provides a splendid glimpse of the wonderful Hampshire countryside at its best.

Tom Muckley, August 2007

This article was originally published by the Petersfield Post

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