Duncliffe Hill

Last updated

Duncliffe Hill
Duncliffe Hill 20071031.jpg
Duncliffe Hill rising above the fog in the Blackmore Vale
Highest point
Elevation 210 m (690 ft) [1]
Prominence 96 m (315 ft) [1]
Coordinates 51°00′08″N2°14′57″W / 51.0023°N 2.2493°W / 51.0023; -2.2493
Geography
Duncliffe Hill
Location Blackmore Vale, Dorset, England
Parent range Isolated hill
OS grid ST826226
Topo map OS Landranger 183, Explorer 129

At 210 metres, Duncliffe Hill is one of the highest hills in the Blackmore Vale region in the county of Dorset, England.

Contents

Description

Duncliffe Hill rises from the surrounding lowland about 2 miles west of Shaftesbury in the Blackmore Vale and is visible miles away in Wiltshire and Somerset. [2] It is a gently conical hill with a double summit. [3] The slopes are covered by Duncliffe Wood on three sides, but are open to the north. The woods are managed by the Woodland Trust. [3] There are several trails through the woods, some leading to the summit where there is a trig point. The wood is a bird reserve. The A30 main road passes by the foot of the hill to the north. [4]

Geology

The geology of the hill is heavy Kimmeridge Clay, capped with a 5 to 6-metre thickness of Upper Greensand, a type of sandstone. [3] The greensand has weathered to buff, shelly, glauconitic, fine-grained sand and weakly cemented sandstone. The hill is ringed by extensive Upper Greensand landslips, which earlier led geologists to assign a greater thickness of greensand to the hill. [5] Many springs issue from the base of the greensand, particularly on the north side of the hill. [5]

Archaeology

An Iron Age bronze figurine of a boar was found on Duncliffe Hill. [3] [6]

References

  1. 1 2 Summit Listings by Relative Height by Jonathan de Ferranti. Accessed on 27 Mar 2013.
  2. ↑ The Blackmore Vale at www.westcountrygenealogy.com. Accessed on 28 Mar 2013.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Duncliffe Wood Management Plan 2017-2022" (PDF). The Woodland Trust. Retrieved 25 April 2025.
  4. ↑ Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 Landranger series, No. 183.
  5. 1 2 C R Bristow, C M Barton, E C Freshney, C J Wood, D J Evans, B M Cox, H C Ivimey-Cook and R T Taylor (1995). "Geology of the country around Shaftesbury. Memoir for 1:50 000 geological sheet 313 (England and Wales)". British Geological Survey. Retrieved 25 April 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  6. ↑ Martin Henig & Laurence Keen, 1985, "Figurines from Duncliffe Hill, Motcombe, Dorset", Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, vol. 106, pp. 147-148.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.