Wandlebury Hill Fort

Wandlebury Hill Fort stands on Wandlebury Hill in the Gog Magog Hills, southeast of Cambridge. It is an Iron Age hillfort now managed as a country park. The site overlooks the ancient Icknield Way and once controlled the Thames-Stort-Cam Valley route. Three hillforts existed in the downs, but Wandlebury was the most important. Its altitude is 62 metres above sea level. The meeting point of three hundreds lies adjacent to the fort. The fort is worth the journey for its layered history and surviving traces. It was first built around 400 BC with a ditch and rampart enclosing six hectares. A second ditch and inner bank were added in the 1st century BC, along with wooden palisading. Evidence shows Roman occupation and a road built from Worts Causeway to the site. Anglo-Saxons later named it Wendlesbiri and used it as a council meeting place. A study in 1976 suggested the site may be far older and functioned as an astronomical calendar. Visitors find grassy ramparts and ditches forming a circular enclosure. The remains of a mansion built for King James II in 1685 once stood inside, but only the stable survives today. The park offers wide views across the surrounding countryside. A loxodrome marked by monoliths once ran from Wandlebury to Hatfield Forest. Legends tell of ghostly knights appearing at night when challenged by a call.