Haughmond Hill | |
---|---|
Highest point | |
Elevation | 153 m (502 ft) |
Prominence | c. 85 m |
Geography | |
Location | Shropshire, England |
OS grid | SJ542134 |
Topo map | OS Landranger 126 |
Haughmond Hill is a small, shallow hill in the English county of Shropshire. It is covered by woodland for the most part, although there is an open cast quarry (for stone aggregates) in use. Its proximity to the town of Shrewsbury has meant that it has become something of a forest park, with guided paths, car parking and picnic areas maintained in places. The rocky summit overlooks countryside and Shrewsbury itself.
Haughmond Hill is made up of ancient turbidite sediments from the late Precambrian era which once cascaded off the edge of a continent into the ocean that surrounded it.
The villages of Uffington and Upton Magna lie below and the B5062, Shrewsbury to Newport, road runs through the northern half of the woodland.
Deer can be found in the woods, which are mixed deciduous/coniferous and are to some extent used for forestry to this day.
The hill has several dubious connections with the Battle of Shrewsbury in 1403. Queen Eleanor's Bower is a small enclosure on the hill from which the wife of Henry IV of England supposedly watched the battle's progress (although neither of his wives were named Eleanor). Finally, the "bosky hill" mentioned in Act V Scene i of Shakespeare's Henry IV part 1 is almost certainly Haughmond, which looms to the east of the battlefield:
How bloodily the sun begins to peer
Above yon bosky hill?
The day looks pale
At his distemperature.
Also nearby is Haughmond Abbey, now a ruin, and Ebury Hill, a prehistoric fort. The summit has the ruins of Haughmond Castle, a folly originally built about 1780 that collapsed in 1931. [1]
Shropshire is a ceremonial county in the West Midlands of England, on the Welsh border. It is bordered by Wrexham County Borough and Cheshire to the north, Staffordshire to the east, Worcestershire to the south-east, Herefordshire to the south and Powys to the west. The largest settlement is Telford, and Shrewsbury is the county town.
The Battle of Shrewsbury was fought on 21 July 1403, waged between an army led by the Lancastrian King Henry IV and a rebel army led by Henry "Harry Hotspur" Percy from Northumberland. The battle, the first in which English archers fought each other on English soil, reaffirmed the effectiveness of the longbow and ended the Percy challenge to King Henry IV of England.
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BBC Radio Shropshire is the BBC's local radio station serving Shropshire.
Haughmond Abbey is a ruined, medieval, Augustinian monastery a few miles from Shrewsbury, England. It was probably founded in the early 12th century and was closely associated with the FitzAlan family, who became Earls of Arundel, and some of their wealthier vassals and allies. It was a substantial, successful and wealthy house for most of its four centuries, although evidence of abuses appeared before its dissolution in 1539. The buildings fell into disrepair and the church was largely destroyed, although the remains of some of the domestic buildings remain impressive. The site is now in the care of English Heritage and is open to the public throughout the year and free entry.
Shropshire was established during the division of Saxon Mercia into shires in the 10th century. It is first mentioned in 1006. After the Norman Conquest it experienced significant development, following the granting of the principal estates of the county to eminent Normans, such as Roger De Montgomery and his son Robert de Bellême.
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William FitzAlan (1085–1160) was a nobleman of Breton ancestry. He was a major landowner, a Marcher lord with large holdings in Shropshire, where he was the Lord of Oswestry, as well as in Norfolk and Sussex. He took the side of Empress Matilda during the Anarchy and underwent considerable hardship in the Angevin cause before regaining his lands and former status. William's younger brother, Walter fitz Alan, became ancestor of the royal House of Stuart.
Battlefield Heritage Park is a country park situated north of Shrewsbury in Shropshire, in the area known as Battlefield. It marks the supposed site of the 1403 Battle of Shrewsbury fought between King Henry IV and English rebel nobleman Henry Percy.
Haughmond Football Club is a football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. They are currently members of the Shropshire County League Premier Division and play at Shrewsbury Sports Village.
Wombridge Priory was a small Augustinian monastery in Shropshire. Established in the early 12th century, it was supported by a network of minor nobility and was never a large community. Despite generally good financial management, it fell within the scope of the Suppression of Religious Houses Act 1535 and was dissolved in the following year.