Betsom's Hill | |
---|---|
Highest point | |
Elevation | 251 m (823 ft) |
Listing | County Top |
Coordinates | 51°17′18″N0°03′26″E / 51.2882°N 0.057188°E |
Geography | |
Betsom's Hill in Kent | |
Location | Westerham, England |
OS grid | TQ 4355 5633 |
Betsom's Hill is a hill on the North Downs. Situated between Westerham and Tatsfield, at the western edge of the county, it lies close to where the A233 crosses the Downs en route to Biggin Hill. This is the highest part of the North Downs, with Botley Hill the highest point, nearby to the west. The hill lies at the western end of the Kent Downs, an area of outstanding natural beauty. [1] [2] [3]
The crest of the hill was the location of a Victorian defence fort, one of twelve locations along the North Downs built to protect London in case of attack by foreign invaders crossing the channel. Known as Betsom's Hill Fort or Westerham Fort, it was part of the London Defence scheme, and was intended to act both as a mobilisation centre for volunteer troops, and as an ammunition store. The fort which consisted of ramparts, casemates and a magazine has been partially demolished and converted for use as workshops, with private houses appropriately named Fort Cottages now occupying the site. [4] [5] [6] [7]
The highest part of the hill is unmarked, in an area inaccessible to the public, making it the only county top that is on private land and which cannot be easily visited. [1] The lower slopes are more accessible, with the North Downs Way, a long-distance trail passing beneath the crest, in an area known as Hill Park. Running in parallel at the foot of the scarp slope is another more ancient route, the Pilgrims Way. [7]
The artist and craftsman, John Paul Cooper selected Betsom's Hill as the location for his house, workshop and studio. He designed the house in the Arts and Crafts style to reflect the local Kentish architecture, and lived there until his death in 1933. [8] [9]
Westerham Heights, the highest point of Greater London at 245 metres (804 ft), is also part of Betsom's Hill, albeit with a separate name. It is located at TQ436564 , adjacent to the A233 where the county boundary intersects the dip slope of the escarpment. On the north-west side of the hill, there is another boundary feature, a tripoint where the borders of Surrey, Kent and Greater London meet at Rag Hill. [1] [7] [3]
Westerham Hill is the name given to the stretch of the A233 that ascends Betsom's Hill up to Westerham Heights. On the 20th of August 1887 it was the venue for one of the earliest cycle hill climbs, [10] [11] even though it was considered nearly impossible to complete owing to the steep gradient of the then un-metalled road. Twenty-four competitors took part, using a variety of machines including penny-farthings, tricycles, and the new safety bicycles, all with solid tyres. Organised by the Catford Cycling Club, only half of the starters completed the climb. A rider of a penny-farthing came seventh. The winner was automobile pioneer Selwyn Francis Edge, using a safety bike, and celebrated deaf cyclist Arthur James Wilson finished 12th. Westerham was used for another sixteen of these hill climb events, as were a number of other Kent hills. The modern hill climb event is still run nearby at Yorks Hill. [12]
Biggin Hill is a town in South East London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is situated beyond London's contiguous built-up area in the Metropolitan green belt, 15.2 miles (24.5 km) south-southeast of Charing Cross. It is located adjacent to the Greater London boundary with Kent and Surrey. Prior to the creation of Greater London in 1965, it was in the historic and administrative county of Kent. At the 2011 Census, Biggin Hill had a population of 9,951.
Catford is a district in south east London, England, and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Lewisham. It is southwest of Lewisham itself, mostly in the Rushey Green and Catford South wards. The population of Catford, including Bellingham, was 44,905 in 2011.
Farthing or farthings may refer to:
The North Downs are a ridge of chalk hills in south east England that stretch from Farnham in Surrey to the White Cliffs of Dover in Kent. Much of the North Downs comprises two Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs): the Surrey Hills and the Kent Downs. The North Downs Way National Trail runs along the North Downs from Farnham to Dover.
The A25 road is an east–west main road in the South-East of England. Its carries traffic east from Guildford, Surrey, eastward through Surrey and into mid-west Kent, to the town of Sevenoaks, and then on to Wrotham Heath where it connects with the A20.
Dunstable Downs are part of the Chiltern Hills, in southern Bedfordshire, England; and are located near the town of Dunstable. They are a chalk escarpment forming the north-eastern reaches of the Chilterns. At 243 m (797 ft), Dunstable Downs are the highest point in the county of Bedfordshire.
Portsdown Hill is a long chalk ridge in Hampshire, England. The highest point of the hill lies within Fort Southwick at 131 m above sea level. The ridge offers good views to the south over Portsmouth, the Solent, Hayling Island and Gosport, with the Isle of Wight beyond. The hill is on the mainland, just to the north of Ports Creek, which separates the mainland from Portsea Island, on which lies the main part of the city of Portsmouth, one of the United Kingdom's main naval bases. To the north lies the Forest of Bere, with the South Downs visible in the distance. Butser Hill can be seen on a clear day. The hill is formed from an inlier of chalk which has been brought to the surface by an east–west upfold of the local strata known as the Portsdown Anticline.
The London Defence Positions were a late 19th-century scheme of earthwork fortifications in the southeast of England, designed to protect London from foreign invasion landing on the south coast. The positions were a carefully surveyed contingency plan for a line of entrenchments, which could be quickly excavated in a time of emergency.
Westerham is a town and civil parish in the Sevenoaks District of Kent, England. It is located 3.4 miles east of Oxted and 6 miles west of Sevenoaks, adjacent to the Kent border with both Greater London and Surrey. It is recorded as early as the 9th century, and was mentioned in the Domesday Book in a Norman form, Oistreham. Hām is Old English for a village or homestead, and so Westerham means a westerly homestead. The River Darent flows through the town, and formerly powered three watermills. The total population in 2021 was 4,498.
The Kent Downs is an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) in Kent, England. They are the eastern half of the North Downs and stretch from the London/Surrey borders to the White Cliffs of Dover, including a small section of the London Borough of Bromley. The AONB also includes the Greensand Ridge, a prominent sandstone escarpment which lies south of the chalk escarpment of the North Downs.
Caterham is a town in the Tandridge district of Surrey, England. The town is administratively divided into two: Caterham on the Hill, and Caterham Valley, which includes the main town centre in the middle of a dry valley but rises to equal heights to the south. The town lies close to the A22, 21 miles from Guildford and 6 miles south of Croydon, in an upper valley cleft into the dip slope of the North Downs. Caterham on the Hill is above the valley to the west.
Tatsfield is a village and civil parish in the Tandridge District of Surrey, England. It is located 3.3 miles north west of Westerham and 3.9 miles north east of Oxted, and is adjacent to the Surrey border with both Greater London and Kent.
Fort Halstead was a research site of the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl), an executive agency of the UK Ministry of Defence. It is situated on the crest of the Kentish North Downs, overlooking the town of Sevenoaks, southeast of London. Originally constructed in 1892 as part of a ring of fortresses around London, Fort Halstead was to be staffed by volunteers in the event of a crisis.
Farningham is a village and civil parish in the Sevenoaks District of Kent, England. It is located 3 miles (5 km) south-east of Swanley. It has a population of 1,314.
Ditchling Beacon is the highest point in East Sussex, England, with an elevation of 248 m (814 ft). It is south of Ditchling and to the north-east of Brighton. It is a large chalk hill with a particularly steep northern face, covered with open grassland and sheep-grazing areas. It is the third-highest point on the South Downs, behind Butser Hill and Crown Tegleaze.
Holmesdale, also known as the Vale of Holmesdale, is a valley in South-East England that falls between the hill ranges of the North Downs and the Greensand Ridge of the Weald, in the counties of Kent and Surrey. It stretches from Folkestone on the Kent coast, through Ashford, Harrietsham, Maidstone, Riverhead/Sevenoaks, Westerham, Oxted, Godstone, Redhill, Reigate, Dorking, Gomshall, and Guildford – west of which it is also called by the local name of "Puttenham Vale" – as it continues through the village of Puttenham, to the market town of Farnham.
The geology of Kent in southeast England largely consists of a succession of northward dipping late Mesozoic and Cenozoic sedimentary rocks overlain by a suite of unconsolidated deposits of more recent origin.
South Street is a hamlet in the far south of the London Borough of Bromley, 16.5 miles (27 km) south south-east from Charing Cross. It is the highest settlement in all of the London Region, averaging about 220 metres (722 ft) above sea level. It is about 1 km east of the larger settlement of Tatsfield, and about 5 miles (8 km) from Junction 5 of the M25, and lies outside London's contiguous built-up area. The hamlet lies along the A233 road, which connects Biggin Hill with the A25 near Westerham.
The Twydall Profile was a style of fortification used in British and Imperial polygonal forts at the end of the 19th century. The sloping earthworks employed in the Twydall Profile were intended to be quick and inexpensive to construct and to be effective in the face of the more powerful artillery and high explosive ammunition being introduced at that time. The name comes from the village of Twydall in Kent, where the first forts of this type were built.