Thornbury, Herefordshire facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Thornbury |
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 Thornbury
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| Population | 197 (2011 census) |
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| Shire county |
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| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Bromyard |
| Postcode district | HR7 |
| Ambulance | West Midlands |
| EU Parliament | West Midlands |
| UK Parliament |
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Thornbury is a small, quiet village located in Herefordshire, England. It's about 5.5 kilometers (or 3.4 miles) north of the town of Bromyard. In 2011, a count showed that only 197 people lived in the village, making it a very small community.
Thornbury has one church where people gather. North of the village, you can find a historic building called Thornbury Court. The village is also surrounded by two smaller streams, known as tributaries, that flow into the River Frome.
Ancient Hill Forts Near Thornbury
Thornbury is special because it has two ancient hill forts nearby. A hill fort is like an old, fortified village or camp built on top of a hill. People from long ago, often during the Iron Age, built these forts for protection. They used the natural shape of the land and added big banks and ditches to make them strong.
Wall Hills Camp: A Giant Oval Fort
About 900 meters (or half a mile) east of Thornbury, you'll find a huge hill fort called Wall Hills Camp. It's shaped like a giant oval, stretching about 484 meters (1,588 feet) long and 322 meters (1,056 feet) wide. This fort covers a large area, about 9 hectares (or 22 acres), which is like 16 football fields!
The protective wall, or "bank," of Wall Hills Camp is very impressive. It can be as tall as 12.5 meters (41 feet), which is higher than a three-story building! Outside this bank, there was also a deep ditch to make it even harder for enemies to get in.
Garmsley Hill Fort: Roman Connections
Another interesting hill fort is Garmsley Hill fort. It's located about 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) north of Thornbury, just across the border in the county of Worcestershire. This fort is also quite large, measuring about 330 meters (1,083 feet) long and 150 meters (492 feet) wide.
The walls of Garmsley Hill fort are about 10 meters (33 feet) wide. They rise up to 5 meters (16 feet) from the inside of the fort and are about 11 meters (36 feet) higher than the land outside. What makes Garmsley Hill fort extra special is that Roman bricks have been found there. Some of these bricks even have the Roman numeral V marked on them, which tells us that Romans might have used or built something there a very long time ago!
