Exploring Hambledon Hill

The locals would have you believe that you can see America from the top of Hambledon Hill. That’s perhaps a little optimistic, but the New World link is not entirely spurious. Lieutenant Colonel (later General) James Wolfe, a veteran of the Jacobite Rebellion in Scotland, trained his troops here for ten weeks in 1756. All that yomping the steep hillsides must have been worth it, for three years later his troops occupied the Plains of Abraham just outside Quebec City and captured Quebec – and subsequently Canada – for the British, although Wolfe himself was mortally wounded in the battle.

The ditches and ramparts of a fort that dates from the Iron Age encircle the top of Hambledon Hill. Today it is acknowledged as a site of international importance for the quality of its rare downland and its archaeology. The platforms of 200 huts have been discovered within the ramparts of the fort, offering a glimpse of how our ancestors lived – it is strange to think of this high, peaceful spot occupied by an entire community.

Such a distinctive landmark as Hambledon Hill was a natural choice for a rallying of serious-minded folk in 1645. They were the local branch of the Dorset Clubmen, ordinary people who were sick of the Civil War, and particularly of being caught in the middle of plundering troops from both sides. Their idea was to declare Dorset a neutral zone until the King and Parliament had sorted out their differences. The King, defeated at the Battle of Naseby earlier in the year, was supportive of the movement. However, to Oliver Cromwell and his fellow commander Thomas Fairfax, it represented a dangerous, obstructive nuisance. When the Clubmen, determined not to be overlooked, tried to cut off Fairfax’s supplies as he swept through North Dorset, he seized and imprisoned the ringleaders at Shaftesbury.

On 4 August, some 4,000 angry and ill-armed Clubmen then faced Cromwell and the horsemen of his New Model Army on Hambledon Hill. They suffered a humiliating defeat on their home ground. Around 60 of their number were killed (some accounts say 12), and around 300 were taken prisoner, including four rectors and their curates. Cromwell locked them all up in Shroton church overnight. They were allowed home the next day, after promising not to do it again, and the Dorset Clubmen subsequently disappeared from history. The Parliamentary army stormed on to take Sherborne Castle a few days later, which was another decisive step towards their eventual victory.

With the church on your left, walk up the street. Pass a farmhouse on the corner of Main Street and Frog Lane. Note behind you the carved stone cross, placed in 2000 on the stump of an old cross. Turn right along Frog Lane, and follow it out of the village. Just after crossing the River Iwerne, go left through a gate in the hedge, and walk along the path near the largely unseen stream.

Ignore one makeshift footbridge and carry on to cross a more substantial one. Continue to the right along the river then peel off left to aim for the far left-hand corner of the field and go through a bridle gate. Follow the right edge of the next field, with a horribly overgrown footpath below to your right. Pass through a field gate and join this path, going ahead to join it. Thankfully, it is far less jungly on this section. Ignore field tracks and go through a gate. Pass Park Farm on your right and keep straight ahead. At the junction bear right into an unsigned lane (Bessells Lane).

At the end, by The Lynes, bear right and immediately left up a bridleway, with a line of trees to your left. Keep forward at a junction where the trees end, and at the top bear left down a muddy and narrow track, part of a defensive ditch at the foot of the hill. This joins a drive at Chalkpit Farm and emerges onto a road; turn left and head into Child Okeford. Just past the postbox turn left and go through a kissing gate. Bear right along the edge of the park, towards the church tower. When you get to the fence turn left.

Cross the drive via two gates and keep straight on, with glimpses of the chimneys of the Victorian manor house to the left. Ignore a path sweeping away to the right. At the end go through a kissing gate and bear left down a path. Cross a stone stile by the road and immediately turn sharp left up a lane. This becomes a track, climbing steeply through trees.

Bear right in front of the nature reserve sign and follow the track uphill. The path levels out below the earthworks that ring the top of the hill. Emerge from the track and continue upwards, following a fence on your left. Where the fence stops, continue upwards in the same direction to the top.

At the trig point turn left to explore the ancient settlement. Return to the trig point, turn left over the top of the hill and go down the slope, following the bridleway.

Meet a track by a wall at the bottom. Turn left and go through a gate, with the village ahead. Follow the track down to a cricket pavilion. Go through the gate and turn right, onto the road. Follow this down past a barn development and turn right to return to your car. Alternatively, turn left at the pavilion, and soon after turn right by Hill View Cottage, to the pub.