Black Down, Somerset

Coordinates: 51°18′42″N 2°44′30″W / 51.31156°N 2.74170°W / 51.31156; -2.74170
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
This article is about a hill in the Mendip Hills. For range of hills along the Somerset-Devon border, see Blackdown Hills National Landscape.

Black Down
Marilyn
Geography
LocationMendip Hills, England
OS gridST484572
Topo mapOS Landranger 141

Black Down is the highest hill in the

Mendip Hills AONB
authority.

The shortest route of ascent goes from the

car park
and is approximately 1 km long.

Black Down is an open-access area mostly consisting of moors, with dense cover of associated vegetation such as heather and bracken. According to a local organization's newsletter, the name "Black Down" comes from the Saxon word 'Blac' or 'Bloec' meaning bleak, 'Dun' meaning down or fort.[3]

Geology

The rocks form an anticline with the oldest being Old Red Sandstone at the summit, which was deposited during the Devonian period between 400 and 362 million years ago, with younger Portishead Beds of limestone and Black Nore Sandstone on either side.[4] As a result of the Variscan mountain-building, the Mendip area now comprises at least four anticlinal fold structures, with an east-west trend, each with a core of older Devonian sandstone and Silurian volcanic rocks.[5][6]

The Devonian and Silurian rocks are generally more resistant to weathering than the limestone,

summit in heather (Calluna) and grasses rather than the pasture which covers much of the plateau.[10][11]

Beacon Batch round barrow cemetery

The summit area of Black Down is known as Beacon Batch. It is the site of Bronze Age round barrows, one of which also anchors the concrete trig point. All of the barrows show signs of being opened in the past, but the only recorded excavation was done by Rev J. Skinner in 1820.[12]

The main group of barrows consists of nine bowl barrows, one bell barrow and one disc barrow. There is also an outlying group of three bowl barrows to the west, and a group of two bowl barrows about 600 metres (0.37 mi) to the southeast of the main group.[13]

Bombing decoy town

World War II bunker

During

marshalling yards.[14]

The decoys were fitted with dim red lights, simulating activities like the stoking of

Z battery of anti aircraft rockets.[14][15] The success of this endeavour is questionable, with no ground indications that the hills were used as targets.[16] Piles of stones (known as cairns) were also created to prevent enemy aircraft from using the hilltop as a landing site.[17]

Heritage at Risk

Both the World War II bombing decoy complex and round barrow cemetery are included on the Heritage at Risk Register maintained by English Heritage due to erosion from the visitors to the site.[18]

A three-year project from 2013 to 2016 has been funded by the

Heritage Lottery Fund, and hosted by the Mendip Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty Unit, has been established to "raise awareness of the importance of Black Down and the Burrington Commons".[19]

References

  1. ^ "More Relative Hills of Britain" (PDF). Retrieved 27 May 2020.
  2. ^ "Key Col for Beacon Batch". Retrieved 27 May 2020.
  3. ^ "Autumn newsletter 2007" (PDF). Mendip Hills AONB. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 November 2007. Retrieved 25 September 2007.
  4. ISBN 9781456416317
    .
  5. ISBN 0-11-880064-7
    .
  6. ISBN 9781456416317
    .
  7. ^ "Black Down Geology Fact Sheet" (PDF). Discovering Black Down. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
  8. ^ "Blackdown". British Geological Survey. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
  9. ISBN 0-7153-7297-1
    .
  10. ISBN 0-7153-7297-1
    .
  11. ^ "Mendip Hills" (PDF). Character Area Appraisal. Natural England. pp. 122–128. Retrieved 9 April 2010.
  12. ISBN 0-946159-94-7
    .
  13. ^ Extract from record of Scheduled Monument
  14. ^
    ISBN 1-85306-590-0
    . pages 165-177
  15. ^ Davies, Les (March 2009). "Starfish and subterfuge". Mendip Times. Retrieved 24 February 2009.
  16. ^ "Mendip Hills An Archaeological Survey of the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty" (PDF). Somerset County Council Archeological Projects. Retrieved 16 January 2011.
  17. ^ Historic England. "World War II bombing decoy complex, anti-aircraft obstructions and Beacon Batch round barrow cemetery on Black Down (1020995)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
  18. ^ "World War II bombing decoy complex, anti-aircraft obstructions and Beacon Batch round barrow cemetery on Black Down, Priddy / Cheddar — Mendip". Heritage at Risk. English Heritage. Archived from the original on 27 July 2014. Retrieved 14 October 2013.
  19. ^ "About". Discovering Black Down. Archived from the original on 14 December 2014. Retrieved 14 December 2014.

External links

Media related to Black Down, Somerset at Wikimedia Commons

51°18′42″N 2°44′30″W / 51.31156°N 2.74170°W / 51.31156; -2.74170

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