Whitehill, Robert’s Review
A short history Whitehill
Visitors have been coming here for over 10,000 years! Hunter/gatherers from the Mesolithic period have left behind flint tools. Bronze Age people have dotted the area with 42 tumuli and the Romans have left the remains of a road from Chichester to Silchester. Edward I hunted in the Royal Woolmer Forest in the 13th Century.
In 1863 the Ministry of Defence purchased much of the land to create two military camps at Longmoor and Bordon and became the major landowner.
In 1929 the civil parish of Whitehill was formed. This united the two military camps and the village of Whitehill with the hamlets of Hollywater, Deadwater and Broxhead.
Key
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- Route
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- Temporarily closed
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- Restricted use
Directions
From the sports club walk west down Gibbs Lane. Pass the old Bordon Railway Station (now an industrial estate) on the left and the railway line which ran to it from Bentley on the right.
Continue down the lane crossing the Oakhanger Stream and at the chalet on the left take the right fork. Entering the open heathland at the last house on the right, pick up the path angled right. This goes under the power lines and head towards the bund surrounding the sand quarry.
Climb the stile and follow the path passing the two-arched railway bridge over the stream. Climb the stile up onto the old railway line, turn left and immediately right over the next stile and into a field. The path goes across to the largest tree on the opposite side of the field.
Climb the stile into the wood and bear left. Pass through the gate, cross the field to the gate opposite, over the drive and the path is now marked with yellow HCC signs. Follow the path to the right, turn right at the yellow marker and pass over the stream. Head for the gap in the hedge on the other side of the field and pass through the wood.
Walk along the edge of the field and at the tarmac drive turn right. Follow this through Oxney Meadows, where Field Marshall Lord Roberts reviewed the troops in 1912. Just before the wood, turn right to pass the old parade ground of Martinique Barracks, built for WW2.
Continue along the drive, keep left at the grassy triangle. Pass the concrete blocks on the left and cross the old railway line from Bordon Station to Oakhanger Halt. Now head towards the playing fields of the sports club.