Devil's Punch Bowl
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The Devil's Punch Bowl is a 282.2-hectare (697-acre)
The Punch Bowl is a large natural
The Devil's Punch Bowl was featured on the 2005 TV programme Seven Natural Wonders as one of the wonders of the South.[6]
Etymology
The name Devil's Punch Bowl dates from at least 1768, the year that John Rocque's map of the area was published. This was 18 years before the murder of the unknown sailor on Gibbet Hill, so this event was clearly not the origin of the name. Prior to 1768, it was marked as "ye Bottom" on a map by John Ogilby dated 1675. The northern end of the Bowl is known as Highcombe Bottom which exists in different variants: Hackombe Bottom, Hacham Bottom, and Hackham Bottom.[7][8][9]
Natural history
The geology of this part of Surrey comprises a
The site has abundant wildlife. Most woodland species can be seen easily - including lesser spotted woodpecker and common redstart. It has been known for the wood warbler, a rare summer visitor, but the last documented sighting was in 2009.[10]
Local legends
Local legend has colourful theories as to its creation. According to one story, the
Another story goes that, in his spare time, he hurled lumps of earth at the god Thor to annoy him. The hollow out of which he scooped the earth became the Punch Bowl. The local village of Thursley means Thor's place.[11] An alternative version of this story says that Thor threw the earth at the Devil, who was annoying Thor by jumping across the Devil's Jumps.[12]
Development and protected status
The beauty of the area and the diversity of nature it attracts that has gained the Devil's Punch Bowl the title of a Site of Special Scientific Interest. This status has recently helped save the Devil's Punch Bowl from above-ground redevelopment of the A3, which was needed to relieve traffic congestion in the area, as this section of the A3 was single-carriageway.
The National Trust co-operated with developers
The Hindhead
In fiction
Punch Bowl Farm, at the northern end of the Devil's Punch Bowl, was the home of children's novelist Monica Edwards from 1947 until 1998. In her books she renamed the farm Punchbowl Farm.[16][17] In Charles Dickens' novel Nicholas Nickleby, Nicholas and Smike visit the Devil's Punch Bowl on their journey to Portsmouth.[18]
The third novel in the
The "Devil's Punch-Bowl in Surrey" is briefly mentioned in The Shining Pyramid, a short story by Arthur Machen,[20] and in "The Manhood of Edward Robinson", the fifth story in Agatha Christie's The Listerdale Mystery and Other Stories.[21] The area is the setting for Sabine Baring-Gould's novel The Broom-squire.[22]
Legacy Project
A lottery award from the
See also
- Cheesefoot Head
- Devil's Dyke, Sussex
- Devil's Jumps, Churt
- Hindhead Tunnel
- List of Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Surrey
- River Lyd, Devon Lydford Gorge, Devil's Cauldron
References
- ^ a b c d "Designated Sites View: Devil's Punch Bowl". Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Retrieved 7 November 2018.
- ^ "Map of Devil's Punch Bowl". Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Retrieved 7 November 2018.
- ^ a b c d "Hindhead Commons and the Devil's Punch Bowl". National Trust. Retrieved 16 December 2018.
- ^ "Designated Sites View: Wealden Heaths Phase II". Special Protection Areas. Natural England. Retrieved 7 November 2018.
- ^ Tarver, Nick (27 July 2011). "Tunnel vision becomes a reality". Retrieved 16 December 2018 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
- ^ "BBC: Seven Man Made Wonders". Retrieved 20 June 2018.
- ^ John Rocque 1768
- ^ Lindley and Crossley 1793
- ^ Ordnance Survey 1811
- ^ "RSPB: North West Surrey". Retrieved 7 November 2018.
- ^ The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-names - Fourth Edition 1977 - page 472
- ^ Phillips, Jamie (6 June 2020). "The mythical battle between Thor and the Devil said to have created Surrey beauty spot". Surrey Live. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
- ^ A3 Hindhead tunnel: Tunnels: Mott MacDonald Archived 2007-05-04 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Highways Agency — A3 Hindhead Improvement Archived 2007-06-29 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Popular youth hostel closing down". Farnham Herald. 10 November 2014. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
- ^ "Monica Edwards". The Times. No. 66119. London. 7 February 1998. p. 25.
- ^ Tucker, Nicholas (13 February 1998). "Obituary: Monica Edwards". The Independent. Retrieved 9 November 2019.
- ^ Dickens, Charles (1839). The life and adventures of Nicholas Nickleby. London: Chapman and Hall. p. 207. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
- ^ Forester, C. S. (1951) [1938]. "XVIII". Flying Colours. London: Michael Joseph. p. 188.
- ^ Machen, Arthur (1923). The Shining Pyramid. Starett, Vincent. Chapter 5: The Little People. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
- ISBN 978-0-00-819643-1.
- ^ Baring-Gould, S. (1895). The Broom-squire. London: Frederick A. Stokes.
- ^ "Culture Shift » Heritage Lottery funding for Hindhead A3D legacy project". www.cultureshift.org.uk. Retrieved 16 December 2018.