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Location

Surrey Map

Before the Hindhead Tunnel opened in 2011 the busy A3 used to wind it's way up and over the greensand hills here on its way from London to Portsmouth.

The old road has now been covered with sandstone and landscaped back to the original contour of the hillside, but the scar was still very visible at the time of my visit (2018).

In earlier times, the area was notorious as the haunt of highway men and murderers.

The Sailor's Stone marks the spot where in 1786 a sailor was brutally murdered by three men he had befriended in a local pub. The area became known as Gibbet Hill as this was were the three villains were hanged. In 1851 Sir William Erle erected the Celtic Cross to try to allay local fears and superstitions.

In 1906 the area was bought by the National Trust making it one of their first acquisitions.