Ashleys Copse facts for kids
Ashley's Copse is a special place in England where you can find the remains of an ancient hillfort. It's located about 13 kilometers (8 miles) northeast of the city of Salisbury. This site is very old, dating back to the Iron Age, a time when people started using iron tools and weapons. It sits right on the edge of two counties, Wiltshire and Hampshire.
A hillfort was like a fortified village or town built on top of a hill. People in the Iron Age built these to protect themselves and their communities. Ashley's Copse is so important that it's protected as a scheduled monument, which means it's a nationally important archaeological site.
About half of Ashley's Copse is covered by trees. In this wooded area, you can see the best preserved parts of the old fort's defenses, called earthworks. These are banks and ditches dug into the ground. You can also spot some of these earthworks on the eastern side of the hill. The fort was naturally protected on one side by a deep valley. Other sides also had steep slopes, making it hard for enemies to attack. The fort wasn't built on the very top of the hill, but a little lower down, between 155 and 160 meters above sea level.
Where is Ashley's Copse?
Ashley's Copse is found northeast of a village called Middle Winterslow. Most of the site is in the county of Hampshire, but a small part of it is in Wiltshire.
