Beacon Hill, Warnford

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There are two hills in Hampshire called Beacon Hill; the other one is near Burghclere
Beacon Hill, Warnford
Site of Special Scientific Interest
BeaconHillSEcombe2.jpg
Location Hampshire
Grid reference SU 603 227 [1]
InterestBiological
Area46.4 hectares (115 acres) [1]
Notification 1984 [1]
Location map Magic Map

Beacon Hill, Warnford is a 46.4-hectare (115-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest west of Warnford in Hampshire. [1] [2] It is a Nature Conservation Review site, [1] and an area of 40.1 hectares (99 acres) is a national nature reserve. [3] There is a round barrow cemetery dating to the Late Neolithic or Bronze Age on the hill, and this is a scheduled monument. [4]

Contents

Location

The hill lies to the west of the Meon Valley and opposite Old Winchester Hill. It gives a commanding view over the Hampshire Basin to the south, from the lower Itchen Valley and New Forest, the Solent and Isle of Wight and round to Portsdown Hill (over which the top of Portsmouth's Spinnaker Tower can be seen). On the eastern side the view takes in the Meon Valley including Meonstoke and West Meon, and the South Downs including Old Winchester Hill and Butser Hill. The spire of Privett church can be seen to the north.

The hill is crossed by two long-distance footpaths, the South Downs Way and the Monarch's Way. Due to the fragile nature of the thin chalk soils there has been much controversy over routing. At present there are temporary routes to the north of the main summit via Warnford, and to the south via Exton. [5] [6]

SSSI

The site consists of the steep slopes of a chalk spur on the western side of the Meon valley, covered by chalk grassland, beech / ash / hazel woodland and chalk scrub. There are two separate parts, which are not joined to each other. The main section centred on grid reference SU603227 consists of two divisions: 16.2 hectares (40 acres) of Beaconhill Beeches (mixed broadleaved and yew woodland), and 23.54 hectares (58.2 acres) of chalk grassland. The smaller, separate northern section (centred on grid reference SU604234 ) is a strip of grassland on a north-facing slope of the northern of the hill's two eastern spurs.

The grassland at the site has sheep's fescue (Festuca ovina), salad burnet (Sanguisorba minor) and common rock-rose (Helianthemum nummularium) as its dominant species. Other species present are horseshoe vetch (Hippocrepis comosa), yellow-wort (Blackstonia perfoliata), fragrant orchid (Gymnadenia conopsea) and clustered bellflower (Campanula glomerata).

The grassland supports several rarer species - rampion (Phyteuma tenerum), field fleawort (Senecio integrifolius), hairy rock-cress (Arabis hirsuta) and man orchid (Aceras anthropophorum).

The site's butterfly fauna in mentioned as in its citation sheet. Twenty-five species are known to breed, including colonies of silver-spotted skipper and Duke of Burgundy, together with comparatively large populations of brown argus, green hairstreak, chalkhill blue, marbled white and dingy skipper. [7]

Geology

Structure

The structural picture is similar to that at Winchester 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) to the west, with an east–west trending anticline in the upper chalk (the Winchester-East Meon Anticline) cut through by a south-flowing river to expose an inlier of middle and lower chalk. As with the Itchen, the upper Meon flows westwards along the fold trend, before swinging south to cut through the anticline. Beacon Hill at 201 metres (659 ft) to the west of the Meon and Old Winchester Hill at 212 metres (696 ft) to the east are remnants of the southward-dipping chalk on the southern side of the anticline. The anticline is somewhat domed, with the result that Old Winchester Hill is capped by older chalk than Beacon Hill despite being rather higher, whilst Wether Down and Butser Hill to the east are higher still. [8] [9] [10]

Geomorphology

Beacon Hill is a section of east-facing Upper Chalk escarpment. Both Beacon Hill and Old Winchester Hill have a claim to being the point at which the main north-facing scarp of the South Downs turns northwards around the western end of the Weald; Beacon Hill is lower, but represents a higher level within the chalk, and Old Winchester Hill is cut to the north by the upper Meon valley. Small [11] suggests that the upper Meon (which like the upper Itchen flows east–west) was originally a headwater of the Itchen following the col to the north of Beacon Hill, before the south-flowing lower Meon cut back through the chalk.

The hill has been incised by a series of steep-sided semi-circular combes to the east, and deep dry valleys to the south and west. Between these several radiating spurs with minor roads and tracks meet near the summit.

Related Research Articles

South Downs Range of chalk hills in southeast England

The South Downs are a range of chalk hills that extends for about 260 square miles (670 km2) across the south-eastern coastal counties of England from the Itchen valley of Hampshire in the west to Beachy Head, in the Eastbourne Downland Estate, East Sussex, in the east. The Downs are bounded on the northern side by a steep escarpment, from whose crest there are extensive views northwards across the Weald. The South Downs National Park forms a much larger area than the chalk range of the South Downs and includes large parts of the Weald.

The geology of Hampshire in southern England broadly comprises a gently folded succession of sedimentary rocks dating from the Cretaceous and Palaeogene periods. The lower (early) Cretaceous rocks are sandstones and mudstones whilst those of the upper (late) Cretaceous are the various formations which comprise the Chalk Group and give rise to the county's downlands. Overlying these rocks are the less consolidated Palaeogene clays, sands, gravels and silts of the Lambeth, Thames and Bracklesham Groups which characterise the Hampshire Basin.

Exton, Hampshire Human settlement in England

Exton is a small village and civil parish in the Winchester district of Hampshire, England. The village lies in the South Downs National Park, on the west bank of the River Meon, immediately to the north of Corhampton. It is located two miles north of Droxford and five miles north-east of Bishop's Waltham. Its name first appears in 940 as East Seaxnatune, meaning "farmstead of the East Saxons".

Beacon Hill, Burghclere, Hampshire

Beacon Hill is near the village of Burghclere and Watership Down, in north Hampshire. The hill's name is derived from the fact that it was one of many Beacon Hills in England and beyond. This hill was once the site of the most famous beacon in Hampshire. It is 261 metres high and has one of England's most well known hill forts on its slopes, visible from the main A34 road which passes close by. From there, outstanding views of the surrounding area and much of Hampshire may be obtained. The site is open to the public and managed by Hampshire County Council. It is an 80.7-hectare (199-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest called Burghclere Beacon and a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I.

Twyford, Hampshire Human settlement in England

Twyford is a village and civil parish in Hampshire, England, approximately three miles south of Winchester and near the M3 motorway and Twyford Down. In 2001, the population of the parish was 1,456. The village and parish are on the left bank of the Itchen, which passes through nearby watermeadows, and has been important economically for its residents.

Fair Oak Human settlement in England

Fair Oak is a large village to the east of Eastleigh in Hampshire, England. Together with the village of Horton Heath, which lies to the south, it is part of the civil parish of Fair Oak and Horton Heath.

Compton and Shawford Human settlement in England

Compton and Shawford is a civil parish in the City of Winchester district, immediately southwest of the city, in Hampshire, England. Its main settlements are the villages of Compton and Shawford.

Old Winchester Hill

Old Winchester Hill is a 66.2-hectare (164-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Hampshire. It is a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I, and a national nature reserve. Part of it is a scheduled monument.

East Hampshire AONB

East Hampshire Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) in England was designated in 1962. The designation was revoked in March 2010, together with the neighbouring Sussex Downs AONB, upon the establishment of the South Downs National Park. The southern part of the area is mainly rolling chalk downland used for farming that is a westward extension of the Sussex Downs. The north and east includes steep wooded hills and heathland.

Chilcomb Human settlement in England

Chilcomb is a small village and civil parish in the English county of Hampshire 3 miles (4.8 km) east of Winchester and includes the South Downs Way long-distance footpath.

Warnford Human settlement in England

Warnford is a village and civil parish in the City of Winchester district of Hampshire, England. The parish covers 1283 hectares. The population in 2019 was estimated at 220.

St. Catherines Hill, Hampshire

St. Catherine's Hill is a 43-hectare (110-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest on the outskirts of Winchester in Hampshire. It is managed by Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust, and most of it is an Iron Age hillfort, which is a Scheduled Monument.

Hampshire Basin

The Hampshire Basin is a geological basin of Palaeogene age in southern England, underlying parts of Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Dorset, and Sussex. Like the London Basin to the northeast, it is filled with sands and clays of Paleocene and younger ages and it is surrounded by a broken rim of chalk hills of Cretaceous age.

Henwood Down

Henwood Down is one of the highest points in the county of Hampshire, England, and in the South Downs, reaching a height of 201 metres (659 ft) above sea level. Its prominence of 64 metres qualifies it as a Tump.

The Winchester-East Meon Anticline is one of a series of parallel east–west trending folds in the Cretaceous chalk of Hampshire. It lies at the western end of the South Downs, immediately to the north of the Hampshire Basin and south-east of Salisbury Plain.

The Winchester-King's Somborne Syncline is one of a series of parallel east-west trending folds in the Cretaceous chalk of Hampshire. It lies at the western end of the South Downs, immediately to the north of the Winchester-East Meon Anticline and east of Salisbury Plain.

The Stockbridge Anticline is one of a series of parallel east-west trending folds in the Cretaceous chalk of Hampshire. It lies at the western end of the South Downs, immediately to the north of the Winchester-King's Somborne Syncline and east of Salisbury Plain.

The Micheldever Syncline is one of a series of parallel east-west trending

The geology of West Sussex in southeast England comprises a succession of sedimentary rocks of Cretaceous age overlain in the south by sediments of Palaeogene age. The sequence of strata from both periods consists of a variety of sandstones, mudstones, siltstones and limestones. These sediments were deposited within the Hampshire and Weald basins. Erosion subsequent to large scale but gentle folding associated with the Alpine Orogeny has resulted in the present outcrop pattern across the county, dominated by the north facing chalk scarp of the South Downs. The bedrock is overlain by a suite of Quaternary deposits of varied origin. Parts of both the bedrock and these superficial deposits have been worked for a variety of minerals for use in construction, industry and agriculture.

Exmoor Group

The Exmoor Group is a late Devonian to early Carboniferous lithostratigraphic group in southwest England whose outcrop extends from Croyde in north Devon east across Exmoor to Minehead in west Somerset. The group comprises the following formations the:

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Designated Sites View: Beacon Hill, Warnford". Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
  2. ↑ "Map of Beacon Hill, Warnford". Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
  3. ↑ "Designated Sites View: Beacon Hill". National Nature Reserves. Natural England. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  4. ↑ "Round barrow cemetery and hollow ways on Beacon Hill". Historic England. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  5. ↑ "South Downs Way Public Inquiry 2004". Countryside Agency. Archived from the original on 7 January 2009. Retrieved 1 April 2008.
  6. ↑ "South Downs Way - Latest news on the route across the Meon Valley". Natural England. Archived from the original on 21 October 2007. Retrieved 1 April 2008.
  7. ↑ English Nature SSSI citation sheet for this site Archived September 26, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  8. ↑ British Geological Survey (1998), England and Wales Sheet 316 Fareham, Solid and drift edition, 1:50,000 scale geological map, Keyworth, Nottingham: British Geological Survey, ISBN   0-7518-3168-9
  9. ↑ British Geological Survey (1999), England and Wales Sheet 300 Alresford, Solid and drift edition, 1:50,000 scale geological map, Keyworth, Nottingham: British Geological Survey, ISBN   0-7518-3340-1
  10. ↑ British Geological Survey (2002), England and Wales Sheet 299 Winchester, Solid and drift edition, 1:50,000 scale geological map, Keyworth, Nottingham: British Geological Survey, ISBN   0-7518-3250-2
  11. ↑ Small, R.J. (1980),The Tertiary geomorphological evolution of south-east England:an alternative interpretation,in Jones D.K.C (ed), The Shaping of Southern England, Institute of British Geographers Special Publication 11, Academic Press, 1980, ISBN   0-12-388950-2

Coordinates: 51°00′02″N1°08′23″W / 51.000431°N 1.139844°W / 51.000431; -1.139844

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