Octavia Hill's Memorial
Hydon's Ball rises to 179 metres south of Godalming, its summit crowned by a large stone seat dedicated to Octavia Hill, one of the three founders of the National Trust. Hill died in 1912, and her friend Harriot Yorke, together with her sister Emily, purchased the land and secured it until the Octavia Hill Memorial Committee was formed. The site was acquired by the Trust between 1915 and 1926 as a permanent memorial to the woman whose campaigning had brought the organisation into existence.
Hill's legacy is written across the Surrey and Kent landscape. She saved Toys Hill, Mariners Hill, and Ide Hill from development, and her belief that everyone deserved access to open space and fresh air drove the Trust's early acquisitions. Hydon's Ball is a fitting memorial: a peaceful, elevated place with long views across the countryside she fought to protect.
The Hill and the Heath
The name ‘Ball’ is thought to derive from the hill's role in the Napoleonic-era signal system that linked London to Portsmouth. Today it is a quiet spot where oaks, chestnuts, and non-native shrubs – some planted by Gertrude Jekyll, the garden designer who lived nearby – shade the paths.
The surrounding Hydon Heath offers gentle walks through mixed woodland and heather. The terrain is hilly but manageable, with views south towards the Sussex border from the higher ground. The area is 2.5 miles south of Godalming, accessible from the A3, and is considerably less visited than Box Hill or Leith Hill – which is a large part of its appeal.
