The man on the hill

Hambledon Hill

An iron age hill fort in Dorset, originally inhabited in the Neolithic era (4,000 or more years ago), and thought to have been abandoned in about 300BC.


The "Clubmen", or "Dorset Men"

In 1645, during the English Civil War, the local inhabitants considered that the ravages of the rival roundhead and cavalier armies campaigning in Dorset were rather less than civil. They were determined to remain neutral. Several thousand of them encamped on Hambledon Hill armed with clubs, scythes and pitchforks. There they were attacked and routed by Cromwell's men.

(This was by no means the first civil war to have ravaged England, but is the only war which is so named. There have been at least three events which qualify for that title.)


Shroton(or is it?)

At the foot of Hambledon Hill is the delightful little village of Shroton. It has an another name: Iwerne Courtnay. This can lead to confusion, as not all maps show both of the names. It is safer on balance to refer to it as Shroton.

In 1261 King Henry III granted Shroton the right to hold two annual fairs. One has long since ceased. The other has over the years transformed into the Great Dorset Steam Fair, which claims to exhibit "the largest collection of steam and vintage equipment to be seen anywhere in the world". (And in case you were wondering, this enormous fair is held neither in Shroton nor for that matter in Iwerne Courtnay.)


PS: If you check on the detailed location map for this blip, you will only see the name Shroton. Q.E.D.