Balksbury

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Balksbury is the site of a former Bronze Age hill fort to the southwest of Andover, Hampshire. Originally triangular in shape, most of it has been destroyed by the A303 Andover Bypass, and a large housing development. Only the very southwest parts survive, visible, and up to 1m in height. It was a large hillfort first occupied in the Late Bronze Age, and probably had rather a nice view over the confluence of Pillhill Brook and the River Anton, below and to the southeast. This was also the direction of the single gated entrance. It was used until and during the Roman period. It is listed on the scheduled ancient monuments list - but this status clearly hasn't afforded it much protection. [1]

Bronze Age Prehistoric period and age studied in archaeology, part of the Holocene Epoch

The Bronze Age is a historical period characterized by the use of bronze, and in some areas proto-writing, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second principal period of the three-age Stone-Bronze-Iron system, as proposed in modern times by Christian Jürgensen Thomsen, for classifying and studying ancient societies.

Andover, Hampshire town in Hampshire, England

Andover is a town in the English county of Hampshire. The town is on the River Anton, a major source of the Test, 18 miles (29 km) west of the town of Basingstoke, both major rail stops. It is 15 miles (24 km) NNW of the city of Winchester, 25 miles (40 km) north of the city of Southampton and 65 miles (105 km) WSW of London. Andover is twinned with the towns of Redon in France, Goch in Germany, and Andover, Massachusetts in the United States.

A303 road road in England

The A303 is a trunk road in southern England, running between Basingstoke in Hampshire and Honiton in Devon via Stonehenge. Connecting the M3 and the A30, it is part of one of the main routes from London to South West England, which runs to Land's End in Cornwall. It is a primary A road throughout its length, passing through five counties.

Location

The site is to the southeast of the town of Andover, within the county of Hampshire. The more prominent hillfort of Bury Hill lies to the southwest.

Bury Hill

Bury Hill is the site of a former Iron Age hillfort about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) southwest of the centre of Andover, Hampshire. The site encloses about 22 acres (8.9 ha). There are evident two stages to the construction of the fort, the first is a low single rampart and ditch, to the north and west of the second, stronger double rampart and ditch earthworks, part of which overlies the earlier work. The banks and the ditch are apparently in good condition, although fairly heavily wooded. A footpath encircles the hill fort on the inner rampart, accessible from the northeast and southwest. The centre is left to grass and very secluded, but is not accessible to the general public. The site was used well into the Roman era and was used as a camp by King Canute in 1016, when he fought Edmund Ironside in the Battle of Andover.

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References

  1. http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/site/8672/ The Modern Antiquarian: Balksbury

Coordinates: 51°11′56″N1°30′01″W / 51.198857°N 1.500342°W / 51.198857; -1.500342

Geographic coordinate system Coordinate system

A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are often chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position and two or three of the numbers represent a horizontal position; alternatively, a geographic position may be expressed in a combined three-dimensional Cartesian vector. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation. To specify a location on a plane requires a map projection.