Buckland Leaflet map

Summary

AI generated summary

Buckland Rings is a well-preserved multivallate Iron Age hillfort (4th century BC–1st century AD) notable for its triple banks

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Key features in the conservation area

These are key features in the conservation area and the points relate to the numbered areas on the map.

Buckland Rings is a multivallate hillfort dating from the Iron Age period (4th century BC to 1st century AD). Early historians thought it was Roman. It has well-preserved triple banks and double ditches but it may have started out with a single bank and ditch system. This type of site is rare in lowland areas and as such is the best preserved and most important in the Hampshire/Dorset basin. The east side which contained the entrance was partly ploughed up in the mid 18th century and in the present century two houses were built inside the west end near where the outer bank has been lost along Sway Road.
Records going back to the 13th century show that sometimes the manor was all under one owner and sometimes split into two. The core of the manor house probably dates from the ownership of John Burton in the reign of Elizabeth I. His family lived there for four generations. The Hearth Tax of 1673 shows that it was the biggest house in Old Lymington with 19 hearths.
The avenue of limes leading from Southampton Road to the front of the Manor House is shown on early Ordnance Survey maps along the side of the driveway that has existed since at least the middle of the 18th century. The fields either side of the drive are important reminders of the original parkland setting of the manor.
Southampton Road and Lower Buckland Road (opposite the toll house) were turnpiked following an Act of Parliament in 1765. The old toll house has a recorded history from 1795 when the toll keeper was called James Stanley. The toll house was last occupied in 1952. The Buckland Trust was set up to focus attention on the historic worth of Buckland and the Iron Age hillfort. With the help of grants the building was turned into a museum with exhibitions explaining the history and archaeology of the area.

Map key and captions

Key to map:

Listed Buildings
One or more of the banks of the hillfort
The avenue of limes

The Toll House

Passford Farm

One of the banks of the hillfort

The avenue of limes

These are some of the things that make Buckland special - they need to be looked after

History

The road pattern which was already firmly established by the 17th century.

Buildings

Buckland Manor — possibly late 16th century with 18th century frontage and Victorian additions. The farm group includes some unlisted 18th century brick cottages.

Passford Farm — 17th century timber frame with brick infill, of two bays and two storeys, with a thatched roof.

The old toll house (Grade II) — a small 18th century brick and tile-hung house.

The Toll House Inn — an 18th century brick and tiled roof inn.

Archaeology

The Iron Age hill fort is a Scheduled Ancient Monument.

The fields surrounding the hill fort also contain much archaeological interest; large quantities of medieval pottery have already been found. The manor complex has a long history of habitation and may contain evidence of earlier settlement.

Landscape / Townscape

The avenue of lime trees. The woodland cover of the banks and ditches is mainly oak, beech, sycamore and birch with an underlayer of bracken and blackberry.

Setting

The view of the hill fort from the south. The view from the centre of Buckland Rings looks across the valley towards Vicar's Hill.

One of the ditches of the hillfort

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