In June 2014 I visited the site of the Hog’s Back Barrow. The Hog’s Back is a long chalk ridge beginning in the outskirts of Guildford and ending a couple of miles short of Farnham. The ridge runs east to west with panoramic views to the north and south. In the office, I made a note of two sets of coordinates with adjusted values; the Ordnance Survey gives the position as an Ancient Monument symbol and the point on the line where the FROWSBURY LINE intersected – this point is twenty metres to the east of the symbol. There is an interchange roughly halfway along where the road to Wanborough passes beneath the dual carriageway, known locally as the Puttenham crossroads. Just beyond this point on the westbound carriageway is a large layby and cafe. Using the handheld GPS I located the position of the Ancient Monument symbol on the tarmac on the south edge of the slip road exiting the layby. (See top photograph). The coordinates for the point on the overall pattern of alignments lay some 20m to the south-east of the symbol and was reached by crossing a low bank and through fairly dense growth into open grassland bordered by a post and rail fence. (See photograph above). The actual point was about a metre south of this fence. The rough grass here showed no sign of any change in ground levels, but this area needs to be looked at in the winter with minimum growth. The position on the alignment doesn’t make much sense at this point and seems more likely to be nearer the heavily wooded central reservation. This would give excellent sightlines in both directions. Although the Druid Mile does not appear in the pattern here, it could be of interest that the barrow and Wanborough Church are one DM apart if an element of slope correction is taken into account – the difference in elevation being quite considerable. Hillbury Fort has some interest, but it is not until Culverswell Barrow where we find the 12 DM point is only the width of the barrow away.
