Misk Hills

Last updated December 23, 2022

The Misk Hills consist of a gently undulating sandstone plateau between Hucknall and Annesley in the county of Nottinghamshire in the North East Midlands of England. They offer views Southwards across the town of Hucknall, and the City of Nottingham. They are locally considered to be the first hills in the Pennine Chain, and rise to a high point of 170 metres above sea level from the flat plains to the east. The hills are the source of three minor watercourses, the Gilt Brook, the Whyburn (Hucknall's 'Town brook') and Farleys Brook. They separate the Leen Valley from the Erewash Valley.

Literary links

The view over Hucknall from the easternmost height in the range, Diadem Hill, provided the setting for The Dream , a poem by Lord Byron, the Romantic English poet who lived locally in Newstead Abbey.^[1]

I saw two beings in the hues of youth

Standing upon a hill, a gentle hill,

Green and of mild declivity, the last

As 'twere the cape of a long ridge of such,

Save that there was no sea to lave its base,

But a most living landscape, and the wave

Of woods and corn-fields, and the abodes of men

Scattered at intervals, and wreathing smoke

Arising from such rustic roofs: the hill

Was crowned with a peculiar diadem

Of trees, in circular array, so fixed,

Not by the sport of nature, but of man

The Misk Hills were also the subject of Byron's poem 'The Hills of Annesley'

Hills of Annesley, bleak and barren,

Where my thoughtless childhood strayed,

How the northern tempests, warring,

How about thy tufted shade!

Now no more, the hours beguiling

Former favourite haunts I see,

Now no more, my Mary smiling,

Makes ye seem a heaven to me.

The Misk Hills were also mentioned by local author D. H. Lawrence, in his autobiographical novel Sons and Lovers , and Nottingham-born writer Alan Sillitoe wrote a poem entitled View from Misk Hill .^[2]

Origins of the name

The etymology of the name Misk is unknown. Speculations are that the name relates to an Old English word for the moon, misor, or from the Anglo-Saxon word miersc meaning 'boundary'. The Misks lie close to the boundary between the territory of the Pecsaetan Anglian tribe and that of the kingdom of Mercia. This word also has etymological links with the Kingdom of Mercia. A range of sand hills in Stevenston, Ayrshire, Scotland, also share the name of Misk.^[3]

Land use

The Misk Hills are used for a mixture of dairy and arable farming as well as commercial forestry, and are a popular place for walking, horse riding and cycling. Skylarks, fallow deer and hares inhabit the area. The area is intersected by the M1 motorway close to junction 27. The hills are central to Ashfield and Gedling District Council's 'Hidden Valleys' area, designed to promote tourism in the former coal mining district of Nottinghamshire.^[4] Annesley Castle, a motte and bailey fortification, stands at the foot of Diadem Hill and can be seen from the A611 Annesley Bypass as it intersects the Misks.

A Victorian era refuse dump was located in the area, and fragments of blue and white pottery litter the hills.

During World War Two, a bomb shelter was built on top of the hills. Nearby Hucknall was targeted by bombers as it had an RAF base, a Rolls-Royce engineering facility and numerous coal mines.

A microlight landing strip once operated in the hills.

Stood on the summit facing East, The Nottingham City skyline is often visible .

Related Research Articles

Nottinghamshire is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The traditional county town is Nottingham, though the county council is based at County Hall in West Bridgford in the borough of Rushcliffe, at a site facing Nottingham over the River Trent.

Ashfield is a local government district in Nottinghamshire, England. The population of Ashfield was 127,200 in 2018. The district is mostly urban and forms part of both the Nottingham and Mansfield Urban Areas. There are three towns in the district; Sutton-in-Ashfield, Kirkby-in-Ashfield and Hucknall. The district was formed on 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, by the merger of urban districts of Hucknall, Kirkby-in-Ashfield, Sutton-in-Ashfield and parts of Basford Rural District, namely the parishes of Annesley, Felley and Selston.

Hucknall, formerly Hucknall Torkard, is a market town in the Ashfield district of Nottinghamshire, England. It lies 7 miles north of Nottingham, 7 miles south-east of Kirkby-in-Ashfield, 9 miles from Mansfield and 10 miles south of Sutton-in-Ashfield. It is the second largest town in the Ashfield district after Sutton-in-Ashfield.

The Robin Hood Line is a railway line running from Nottingham to Worksop, Nottinghamshire, in the United Kingdom. The stations between Shirebrook and Whitwell (inclusive) are in Derbyshire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kirkby-in-Ashfield</span> Town in Nottinghamshire, England

Kirkby-in-Ashfield is a market town in the Ashfield District of Nottinghamshire, England. With a population of 25,265, it is a part of the wider Mansfield Urban Area. The Head Offices of Ashfield District Council are located on Urban Road in the town centre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ashfield (UK Parliament constituency)</span> Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 1955 onwards

Ashfield is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament by Lee Anderson of the Conservative Party. The constituency is in the English county of Nottinghamshire, East Midlands; located to the north west of the city of Nottingham in the Erewash Valley along the border with neighbouring county Derbyshire. Ashfield was part of the Red Wall which by and large, voted Conservative in the 2019 general election. In the 2016 referendum on membership of the European Union, Ashfield voted 70% in favour of Brexit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Broxtowe (UK Parliament constituency)</span> Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 1983 onwards

Broxtowe is a parliamentary constituency in Nottinghamshire, England, represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Darren Henry, a Conservative.

Annesley is a village and civil parish in the Ashfield district of Nottinghamshire, England, between Hucknall and Kirkby-in-Ashfield. At the 2011 census, it had a population of 1,162.

Broxtowe was a wapentake of the ancient county of Nottinghamshire, England.

Felley is a civil parish in the Ashfield district, in Nottinghamshire, England, located between Hucknall and Sutton-in-Ashfield. According to the 2001 census, the parish had a population of four. At the 2011 Census the population remained minimal. Details are included in the Underwood ward of Ashfield Council. Prior to 1974 it was part of Basford Rural District.

Newstead is a village and civil parish in Nottinghamshire, England in the borough of Gedling. It is situated between the city of Nottingham and the towns of Kirkby-in-Ashfield, Sutton-in-Ashfield and Hucknall.

The Whyburn, or Town Brook is the main watercourse flowing through the town of Hucknall in the English county of Nottinghamshire. It rises in two separate springs at the foot of the Misk Hills by Whyburn Farm, and flows east into the town of Hucknall, past Whyburn Lane to which it also gives its name. The brook once drove several mills in Hucknall, the most notable example being close to the junction of Baker Street and Annesley Road near the town centre. In the History of Hucknall Torkard it is suggested that a mill pond once existed close to the former village green. The name of the stream is thought to be derived from a Celtic word 'Wy' meaning 'water'. The Whyburn has a total length of around 2.5 miles (4.0 km), and terminates in a confluence with the River Leen immediately upstream of Bestwood Village Mill Lakes. A school used to take the name of 'Whyburn'.

Farleys Brook is the name of a minor watercourse in Hucknall, Nottinghamshire. It rises in a pool within Watnall Coppice close to the M1 motorway at the foot of the Misk Hills, coordinates 53.034471 N, 1.248907 W. It flows southeastwards through the Misk Meadows, passing very briefly into Broxtowe Borough, before returning to Ashfield District, then Pennine View, and Nabbs Lane Estates, where several parks and open spaces are centred on flood prevention lagoons. The Brook flows past the former Hucknall Aerodrome and into Farleys Lane Nature Area, following the A611 Hucknall Bypass. Farleys Lane Spring rises in the Brook close to this point and a deep pool is formed which is used for paddling and bathing. The Brook flows into the River Leen close to Moorbridge, Bulwell.

Hidden Valleys is a name, coined in 2004, used to describe an area of interesting historical and scenic value between the city of Nottingham and the town of Mansfield in the English ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire. Promotional literature and tourist information for the Hidden Valleys were created to encourage tourism in an area that had been blighted by industrial decline. Partners in the project were: Ashfield District Council; Gedling Borough Council; the East Midlands Development Agency; Nottinghamshire County Council; and the Coalfields Regeneration Trust. It was intended by the partners that the name would help the Ashfield area compete with the Peak District and Sherwood Forest.

Annesley Hall is a Grade II listed country house near Annesley in Nottinghamshire, England and the ancestral home of the Chaworth-Musters family. The 13th-century park, 17th-century terraces and 19th-century pleasure gardens and walled gardens of the hall are Grade II* listed on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.

Huthwaite is a village in Nottinghamshire, England, located to the west of Mansfield, close to the Derbyshire boundary. It is in the Huthwaite and Brierley ward of Ashfield District Council. Before 1907 the village was known as Hucknall-under-Huthwaite and also Dirty Hucknall.

The 2011 Ashfield District Council election took place on 5 May 2011 to elect members of Ashfield District Council in Nottinghamshire, England. The whole council was up for election and the Labour party gained overall control of the council from no overall control.

The Leen Valley lines of the Great Northern Railway were railway branch lines built to access the collieries in the Nottinghamshire coalfield in England. The Midland Railway had long been dominant in the area, but there was resentment against its monopolistic policies from coalowners, who encouraged the Great Northern Railway to build a line. The Leen Valley Line was opened in 1881; it ran as far as Annesley colliery. A passenger service was run the following year, and very considerable volumes of coal were hauled.

References

↑ "Ashfield District Council: Annesley and Ravenshead". Ashfield-dc.gov.uk. 1945-01-14. Archived from the original on 2012-12-23. Retrieved 2012-06-28.
↑ "Sillitoe mss. II". Indiana.edu. Retrieved 2012-06-28.
↑ "1913 Explosion". Threetowners.com. 2006-11-16. Archived from the original on 2012-03-25. Retrieved 2012-06-28.
↑ Ashfield District Council. "Ashfield District Council: Hidden Valleys". Ashfield-dc.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 2012-04-27. Retrieved 2012-06-28.

External links

Nottinghamshires Hidden Valleys

Coordinates: 53°04′N1°13′W / 53.06°N 1.21°W / 53.06; -1.21

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.

[1] "Ashfield District Council: Annesley and Ravenshead". Ashfield-dc.gov.uk. 1945-01-14. Archived from the original on 2012-12-23. Retrieved 2012-06-28.

[2] "Sillitoe mss. II". Indiana.edu. Retrieved 2012-06-28.

[3] "1913 Explosion". Threetowners.com. 2006-11-16. Archived from the original on 2012-03-25. Retrieved 2012-06-28.

[4] Ashfield District Council. "Ashfield District Council: Hidden Valleys". Ashfield-dc.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 2012-04-27. Retrieved 2012-06-28.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]