Pewley Hill facts for kids
Pewley Hill is a well-known hill and street located near Guildford in England. This area connects to the open fields of Pewley Down. Long ago, Pewley Hill was home to a special signal station and a fort built for defense. Later, in the late 1800s and early 1900s, many buildings were constructed on the land.
Discovering Pewley Hill
Pewley Hill has a long and interesting history. It was once part of lands given by William the Conqueror to the Testard family. The name "Pewley" comes from the de-la-Puille family. They took over the land from Richard Testard in the year 1255. This family's name also inspired the name of Poyle Manor and the Poyle Charity.
Semaphore Station Secrets
Imagine sending messages across long distances before phones or the internet! In 1822, an Admiralty semaphore station was built on Pewley Hill. This station was part of a long line of signals connecting London to Portsmouth. It worked like a giant visual telegraph system.
The original building is still there today. It has a special dome on top, which was added after the semaphore system was no longer used. It's a cool reminder of how people communicated in the past.
Fort and Reservoir
In 1866, the town of Guildford built a new reservoir at the very top of Pewley Hill. A reservoir is like a big storage tank for water. This helped supply water to the growing town.
Around 1890, a place called Pewley Hill Fort was constructed. It was also known as a Mobilization Centre. This fort was part of a bigger plan called the London Defence Positions. This plan involved building forts all around London to protect it. The line of forts stretched from Guildford, along the North Downs, and even further. However, this defense plan was stopped in 1906, so the fort was not used for its original purpose for very long.
