Holmbury Hill

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About
Gallery
Instagram reel showing this place
Parking
Poo bins?
Self-guided walk

About

Holmbury Hill is part of the Hurtwood, a privately owned woodland to which the public has had access since 1926, as granted by Reginald Bray, the Lord of the Manor of Shere. The Hurtwood got its name from its carpet of Hurts, the local name for billberries (blackberries.) The area is managed by the Friends of the Hurtwood, a registered charity.

At 261m above sea level, Holmbury Hill is the fourth highest point in the county and offers some of the finest views in the Surrey Hills – in fact, the area is locally known as ‘Little Switzerland’. On a clear day, you can see the South Downs and sometimes even the sea at Shoreham Gap. The viewpoint has an information board which points out key places of interest.

At the top of Holmbury Hill lies the site of an iron age hill fort, which dates back to 1AD. An ancient Scheduled Monument, it is one of four hill forts in the area and measures 3.6 hectares. It has been excavated twice – in 1930 and 1974 – and archaeologists say that it had double ramparts to the west and north and escarpments on the eastern and southern slopes.

The Gallery: What’s it like here?

None, please take waste with you

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Self-guided walk

Here is a rather rugged Footpath app route around The Hurtwood at the top of Holmbury Hill. Also on AllTrails. This loop takes in the viewpoint and the “Converse” bench, part of the Surrey Hills Arts “Inspiring Views” project.

Length: approximately 2.4 miles/3.8 km
Terrain: Wide, generally hard but sandy paths. The Hurtwood is a mainly wooded area but these paths are so wide they offer very little shelter – I recommend you avoid this one on warmer days. This is an undulating walk with slopes up and down. There is one steep uphill.
Stiles/kissing gates? No stiles, no kissing gates

At the back of the car park, pass the vehicle barrier and follow the main path ahead. At the fork that you come to almost immediately, take the left hand path, then cross straight over the next path, passing a sign on the left marking this area as the Hurtwood Millennium Pinetum. It contains over 30 species of tree, which are being gradually pruned and thinned with the aim of retaining good specimens of each.

Follow the wide, gently descending path quite some way. Continue straight ahead at the junction with two main paths on the left (and there’s one on the right too.) There is also a small wooden post on the left here.

Shortly after this junction, the main path swoops round to the left and another sizeable path comes off ahead/slightly to the right. Take this up the hill. It is quite steep towards the brow but not a particularly long one.

At the big junction at the top, go straight over the wide path. Continue ahead, passing under the telegraph lines and passing a marker post on the left, which has a green arrow.

At the next large junction, where there is a marker post with a yellow arrow ahead of you, turn right.

Presently the path will pass back under the telegraph lines again. Just stay on it. After quite some way, it’ll bend to the left and go downhill.

At the junction with the green bench ahead, turn right and follow the wide path up slope.

Turn (diagonally) left at the first major cross paths and this path takes you all the way to the Holmbury Hill viewpoint.

Just before you arrive at the viewpoint, there’s an open grassy area on the left, which is the site of the Iron Age Holmbury Hill fort. There is an information board about it on your left.

When you’re done admiring the views, take the small path immediately to the left of the stone donation point. You’ll come to a fork with a marker post in the middle – go left.

Then at the next fork, where there is a small marker post on your right, go left again.

You’ll come to yet another fork and, yes, it’s left again onto a narrow path that doesn’t allow bikes.

This winds along the contour of the hillside, which slopes away down to your left. There are wider, easier paths back to the car park but the reason I’ve chosen this one is that it is part of the Shere Millennium Trail and after a little way, you’ll arrive at one of the Surrey Hills Arts “Inspiring Views” installations. This one is “Converse” by a furniture designer called Matthew Burt. The benches are made of sweet chestnut wood, a tree that is plentiful in the local area.

When you’re done looking at the benches, stand with the view immediately behind you. Follow the small path that leads away from the benches and view – you’ll be able to see the main path ahead. Head towards it and the car park will come into view to the left – you can go down to the main path and turn left, but there is a small cut through path on the left before you reach that main path so you can take this back to the cars.