| Gibbet Hill | |
|---|---|
 The Celtic Cross | |
| Highest point | |
| Elevation | 272 m (892 ft) |
| Coordinates | 51°06′58″N0°42′58″W / 51.11611°N 0.71611°W |
| Geography | |
  Gibbet Hill Gibbet Hill in Surrey, England | |
| Parent range | Greensand Ridge |
Gibbet Hill, at Hindhead, Surrey, is the apex of the scarp surrounding the Devil's Punch Bowl, not far from the A3 London to Portsmouth road in England. The road used to pass close to Gibbet Hill, but has now been superseded by the Hindhead Tunnel and the road returned to nature.
Gibbet Hill stands 272 metres (892 ft) above sea level. It is the second highest hill in Surrey. Leith Hill stands 23 metres taller and Botley Hill stands 2.4 metres lower. [1]
The summit of Gibbet Hill commands a panoramic view, especially to the north and east. The view to the north overlooks the Devil's Punchbowl, Thursley, Hankley Common, Crooksbury Hill, and the Hog's Back towards Godalming and Guildford. To the east lies the Sussex Weald. To the south, the hills of Haslemere and Blackdown can be seen, with some sections of the South Downs. On a clear day it is possible to see the skyline of London, some 40 miles (64 km) away, including buildings such as The Gherkin, Tower 42 and Wembley Stadium, and intermediate landmarks in Woking and Guildford, notably Guildford Cathedral. A trig point stands on the summit. [2]
Weydown common lies to the south of Gibbet Hill. From 1909 or earlier until 1939 or later, a white horse was carved into the hillside at Combe Head, so that it could be seen from Gibbet Hill, although the figure is now covered by heath. [3] [4] [5]
The area was one of disrepute due to the activities of highwaymen and robbers, the corpses of three of whom were formerly displayed there on a gibbet as punishment for their crimes. [6] The Celtic cross, a Grade II listed structure, is reported either to have been erected by the judge Sir William Erle, or an unmarked memorial erected after his death. [7] [8]
The general area is one of heathland and gorse, and was originally an area of the broomsquire, who would harvest the heather, broom, and birch branches to make brooms. The area is in the care of the National Trust, one of their earliest acquisitions. [9]
Gibbet Hill and the nearby area were mentioned by Dickens in his 1839 novel Nicholas Nickleby , in the scene where Nickleby was walking from London to Portsmouth. [10]
They walked upon the rim of the Devil's Punch Bowl; and Smike listened with greedy interest as Nicholas read the inscription upon the stone which, reared upon that wild spot, tells of a murder committed there by night. The grass on which they stood, had once been dyed with gore; and the blood of the murdered man had run down, drop by drop, into the hollow which gives the place its name. "The Devil's Bowl," thought Nicholas, as he looked into the void, "never held fitter liquor than that!"
Dickens was referring to the murder on 24 September 1786 of an Unknown Sailor who was met by three men in the Red Lion at Thursley as he was travelling to his ship in Portsmouth. He bought them drinks and they then followed him and murdered him in the Devil's Punch Bowl. They were quickly apprehended at the Sun Inn in Rake, tried and executed, and their bodies hung on Gibbet Hill. The unknown sailor was buried in Thursley churchyard, and a memorial stone (now listed Grade II) was erected on Gibbet Hill near the scene of the crime. [11] [12]
In 1890 it was the setting for a short story by Bram Stoker published in the Christmas supplement of the Daily Express . [13]
The area is also the setting for Sabine Baring-Gould's 1896 novel The Broom-squire, of which the sailor's (supposed) child is a central character. In 1986, Peter Moorey suggested that the sailor was an Edward Hardman. [14]
On 6 May 1945, a Curtiss-Wright C-46 Commando (44-77839) of the United States Army Air Forces was flying over Gibbet Hill in bad weather when the aircraft struck a radar tower and crashed; all 30 passengers and crew died along with one person on the ground. [15]
Surrey is a ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the west. The largest settlement is Woking.
The A3, known as the Portsmouth Road or London Road in sections, is a major road connecting the City of London and Portsmouth passing close to Kingston upon Thames, Guildford, Haslemere and Petersfield. For much of its 67-mile (108 km) length, it is classified as a trunk road and therefore managed by National Highways. Almost all of the road has been built to dual carriageway standards or wider. Apart from bypass sections in London, the road travels in a southwest direction and, after Liss, south-southwest.
Hindhead is a village in the Waverley district of the ceremonial county of Surrey, England. It is the highest village in the county and its buildings are between 185 metres (607 ft) and 253 metres (830 ft) above sea level. The village forms part of the Haslemere parish. Situated on the county border with Hampshire, it is best known as the location of the Devil's Punch Bowl, a beauty spot and site of special scientific interest.
The Devil's Punch Bowl is a 282.2-hectare (697-acre) visitor attraction and biological Site of Special Scientific Interest situated just to the east of the village of Hindhead in the English county of Surrey. It is part of the Wealden Heaths Phase II Special Protection Area.
The Borough of Waverley is a local government district with borough status in Surrey, England. The council is based in the town of Godalming. The borough also contains the towns of Farnham and Haslemere and numerous villages, including the large village of Cranleigh, and surrounding rural areas. At the 2021 Census, the population of the borough was 128,200. The borough is named after Waverley Abbey, near Farnham. Large parts of the borough are within the Surrey Hills National Landscape.
The town of Haslemere and the villages of Shottermill and Grayswood are in south west Surrey, England, around 38 mi (62 km) south west of London. Together with the settlements of Hindhead and Beacon Hill, they comprise the civil parish of Haslemere in the Borough of Waverley. The tripoint between the counties of Surrey, Hampshire and West Sussex is at the west end of Shottermill.
South West Surrey was a constituency in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. Since its 1983 creation, South West Surrey has been represented only by members of the Conservative Party. From 2005, the seat's MP was Jeremy Hunt, who served as chancellor of the Exchequer until 2024, and the former Culture Secretary, Health Secretary and Foreign Secretary.
Thursley is a village and civil parish in southwest Surrey, west of the A3 between Milford and Hindhead. An associated hamlet is Bowlhead Green. To the east is Brook. In the south of the parish rises the Greensand Ridge, in this section reaching its escarpment near Punch Bowl Farm and the Devil's Punch Bowl, Hindhead.
Hydon's Ball is a 179-metre-high (587 ft) hill covering most of Hydon Heath in Hydestile, Surrey, England.
The Greensand Way is a long-distance path of 108 miles (174 km) in southeast England, from Haslemere in Surrey to Hamstreet in Kent. It follows the Greensand Ridge along the Surrey Hills and Chart Hills. The route is mostly rural, passing through woods, and alongside fruit orchards and hop farms in Kent and links with the Stour Valley Walk near Pluckley in Kent. The trail was opened on 15 June 1980 and is jointly managed by Surrey and Kent Councils who fully updated it in 2012.
Grayshott is a village and civil parish in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It is on the Hampshire / Surrey border 4 miles (6.4 km) northwest of Haslemere by road, and 46 miles (74 km) southwest of central London. The nearest rail link is Haslemere railway station.
Witley Park, formerly known as Lea Park, is an estate dating from the late 19th century between Godalming and Haslemere in Surrey, England. Its landscaped grounds include three artificial lakes, one of which conceals an underwater conservatory and smoking room. The mansion house, rebuilt for the swindler Whitaker Wright, was gutted by fire in October 1952 and the ruins were demolished in January 1954. In the early 21st century, a new house was built on the site.
The Hindhead Tunnel, opened in 2011, is part of the 4-mile (6.4 km) dual-carriageway that replaced one of the last remaining stretches of single-carriageway on the A3 road which connects the cities of London and Portsmouth. It was built to bypass the village of Hindhead in Surrey. At 1.14 miles (1.83 km) in length, the tunnel is the longest non-estuarial road tunnel in the United Kingdom, and takes the road beneath the Devil's Punch Bowl, a Site of Special Scientific Interest.
The River Wey is a main tributary of the River Thames in south east England. Its two branches, one of which rises near Alton in Hampshire and the other in West Sussex to the south of Haslemere, join at Tilford in Surrey. Once combined, the flow is eastwards then northwards via Godalming and Guildford to meet the Thames at Weybridge. Downstream the river forms the backdrop to Newark Priory and Brooklands. The Wey and Godalming Navigations were built in the 17th and 18th centuries, to create a navigable route from Godalming to the Thames.
The Unknown Sailor was an anonymous seafarer murdered in September 1786 at Hindhead in Surrey, England. His murderers were hanged in chains on Gibbet Hill, Hindhead the following year.
The Devil's Jumps are a series of three small hills near the village of Churt in the county of Surrey in southern England. In the 18th century, the hills were known as the Devil's Three Jumps. The Devil's Jumps are linked to a body of folklore relating to the surrounding area. The highest of the three Jumps, lying to the west, is High Jump with an elevation of 413 feet (126 m). Middle Devil's Jump has an elevation of 328 feet (100 m) and once supported an observatory built by 19th century British astronomer Richard Christopher Carrington. Stony Jump, the easternmost of the jumps, has an elevation of 394 feet (120 m).
Murder stones are historic markers found in the countryside of the United Kingdom. They were most popular during the 1820s, being erected at the site of infamous murders. They mostly serve to commemorate the life of the victim or to warn of the consequences of committing such acts, while at least one warns women to take more care to avoid becoming a victim. Many of the stones are now regarded as local landmarks and some have been granted protection as listed structures.
Farnham and Bordon is a constituency of the House of Commons in the UK Parliament. It is a cross-county constituency covering parts of Hampshire and Surrey.It was first contested in the 2024 general election and is currently represented by Greg Stafford of the Conservative Party.
