Holmbury Hill is the site of an Iron Age

Iron Age

The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...

 hillfort close to the village of Holmbury St. Mary in Surrey

Surrey

Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. Excavation of the site in 1929 by S.E. Winbolt indicated that it dated to the 1st Century AD and may have been constructed by Belgic tribes of Celts who were settling this part of Britain

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 in the period prior to the Roman invasion of Britain. The hillfort was defended by double ramparts to the west and north with escarpments on the eastern and southern slopes. The outer ditches were originally about three metres deep and six metres wide. The inner ditches were considerably larger, some four metres deep and nine metres wide.

Sources

• Surrey Archaeological Society (Journal 38), p. 156
• Dyer, James The Penguin Guide to Prehistoric England & Wales (1981), p. 237