Hengistbury Head

Coordinates: 50°42′57″N 1°45′14″W / 50.71583°N 1.75389°W / 50.71583; -1.75389
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Hengistbury Head
SSSI
History
PeriodsStone Age, Bronze Age and Iron Age
Site notes
ConditionWell preserved

Hengistbury Head (

Ancient Monument.[1]
Declared a
Local Nature Reserve in 1990, the head and its surroundings form part of the Christchurch Harbour Site of Special Scientific Interest.[2]
It is also a
Environmentally Sensitive Area and a Site of Nature Conservation Interest.[3] The name "Hengistbury Head" refers to the whole of the headland area; the elevated portion is called Warren Hill
.

There has been human activity on the site since the

Upper Palaeolithic.[4][5] During the Victorian era, it was heavily quarried, and in recent years tourism has become significant – it receives more than one million visitors annually. The various habitats on the Head provide a home for many plants, birds and insects, some of them rare and critically endangered. Erosion
remains a threat to the site, although long-term projects are intended to secure it for the future.

Location

Main article: Geography of Dorset
Hengistbury Head as shown in Isaac Taylor's Map of Hampshire, 1759. The isolated building near the centre of the image (labelled "Summer House") is the thatched barn still at the head.

Hengistbury Head is a sandstone headland attached to Southbourne, which is a suburb of the town of Bournemouth to the west; the nearest major settlement is Christchurch to the north. It is the most easterly part of the Borough of Bournemouth, and marks the most easterly point of Poole Bay. Historically part of Hampshire, the Local Government Act 1972 designated the area a part of Dorset. The northern slope of the hill tailing off towards the sea forms Mudeford spit, the sand bar closing Christchurch Harbour from the south.

Buildings

The spit is home to more 300 privately owned beach-huts, which are some of the UK's most expensive. In 2015 five of the huts were put on the market for a combined asking price of £1 million.[6] On average the huts measure around five by three metres, have no running water, and staying overnight is only permitted from March through October. Despite the relative lack of amenities, the area has become one of the UK's most desirable; huts are rented out for up to £600 a week.[7]

The Black House, a local landmark, stands at the end of the spit, opposite

Mudeford Quay, site of the Battle of Mudeford in 1784. Built in 1848, it was once a boatbuilders' house, but is now rented out to holidaymakers.[8] It has served a variety of functions over the years, and is commonly (but inaccurately) associated with the area's smuggling past.[9]

Toponymy

Recorded as Hedenesburia in an early 12th century

tumuli on Hengistbury Head date to the Bronze Age.[14]

Linguist Richard Coates speculates that the name is derived from Heddin's Fort.[15]

History

Hengistbury Head is home to a plethora of nationally and internationally significant archaeological sites, with features dating from the Late Upper Palaeolithic to the

Victorian period and nowadays receives over a million visitors annually.[17]

Stone Age

Several archaeological digs have revealed that the site was occupied during the

Creswellian culture on the hill in the middle of the headland dating to around 14,100 years ago. With over 13,000 lithic artefacts it is probably the largest site of the period.[19][20] Most interesting were several blades typically found at Upper Paleolithic sites across Europe, but rarely seen outside of caves in the UK, where open air sites of this age are extremely rare.[21] People at the Head were heavily involved with the production of blades, further excavations identified 649 tools, dominated by backed blades, endscrapers and burins.[22]

At the time the Warren Hill would have overlooked a large river valley that was to become the

game.[23]

Bronze Age

In Bronze Age Britain this was an important seaport.[24] Eleven Bronze Age Britain round barrows sit on the promontory with two more a little further inland. Eleven of the round barrows were excavated; three by Bushe Fox in 1911–12 and eight by Harold St George Gray in 1919 and 1922.[14][25] Two appear to be undisturbed. Numerous finds including Early Bronze Age axes and cremation urns were recovered from these tumuli, which have been consistently found to be between 3500 and 4000 years old.[14]

One of the barrows (south of where the thatched barn now stands)[26] contained a high status cremation of a woman of about twenty years in age, accompanied by an incense cup, a halberd-style pendant made from amber and copper alloy, and two gold cones that would have covered buttons of an organic material.[27] The burial-goods recovered are similar to those of the Wessex culture, the Wilsford and Dorset Ridgeway series in particular.[26] An urn from one of the barrows likely to have been made between 1700 and 1500 B.C., has been identified as Trevisker ware, a type widely found throughout Devon and Cornwall which was transported east in lesser amounts, this find being one of the easternmost discovered.[28]

Iron Age

"Double Dykes", Hengistbury Head

In

Iron Age Britain around 700 BC, a settlement on the Head was established;[29] also around this time, the headland was cut off from the mainland by the construction of two banks and ditches called the Double Dykes, similar to those found at Maiden Castle.[30] The earthworks consisted of an inner bank three metres high, with a ditch three and a half metres deep. An outer ditch six metres wide and two metres in depth is now obscured due to wind-blown deposits of sand and a gradual silting process.[31] These defences turned Hengistbury Head into a fortified settlement area which seems to have grown over succeeding centuries until it became an important port.[32] The Iron Age port at Hengistbury Head forms a final site in a small chain of fortified earthworks, starting from Hambledon Hill, and also including Hod Hill, Spetisbury Rings, Buzbury Rings, Badbury Rings and Dudsbury Camp.[33]

John Lavender of the local Red House Museum noted evidence of small

ingots discovered at this time revealed that raw materials would have been imported to the area.[34] One ingot was of nearly pure copper, while the other, which weighed 8.6 kg, was roughly 50/50 copper-silver alloy with around one percent gold.[35] Argentiferous (i.e. silver-bearing) copper was refined to produce silver at the Head.[35] There are also indications that gold was worked at Hengistbury.[36] One excavation produced part of a torc, twisted together with a small gold bracelet and another fragment in a manner suggesting it was scrap; a different site produced a streaked touchstone indicating use in gold testing.[36]

Thousands of bronze coins have been found from the pre-Roman period, the vast majority having been struck by the Durotriges.[37] The abundance of coins, together with various hearths and smelting artefacts found within a close proximity suggest that the Durotrigan finds were minted here.[38]

International trade centre

The advanced level of

Amphorae used for the transportation of North Italian wine have been found in such quantities (more than all other sites in the south of England put together), that it is clear that the Head was a main port of entry into the country.[40] However, no similar amphorae have been unearthed in Armorica, hinting at a more direct trade route between Hengistbury Head and Italy.[40] Most of these vessels date from before 50 B.C., while later styles are absent despite being common in other parts of Britain, indicating the wine trade seems to have declined at about the time Caesar began his Gaulish campaigns.[41]

Roman occupation to Medieval period

After the Roman conquest, the south-east of England started to develop into a more urban economy, while the socio-economic system of the south-west remained little changed.[42] Hengistbury would still have served as an important hub for the

Avon rivers.[42]

No evidence of Saxon use has been found at the Head.[43] The area was not substantially reoccupied until Alfred the Great decided to rebuild the harbour as a defence against raiders. He built the town that later became Christchurch, on the north side of the harbour. Access to Salisbury up the River Avon made this a more strategic place. The Head may have been used for harbour defence at this time. In the 11th century, some of the iron-ore rich stones found at the Head were used in the construction of Christchurch Castle. These reddish-coloured stones can still be seen in the base of the now ruined castle.[44]

17th, 18th and 19th centuries

In the late 1600s, Andrew Yarranton (with backing from

Great Storm of 1703) soon undid most of the work although parts of the pier known as "Clarendon's Jetty" or the "Long Rocks" are still visible today.[46] Many tons may have been removed from the beach and the head itself to make the jetty.[47]

Old Ironstone Quarry, Hengistbury Head

In 1733 a new

galleys sometimes capable of outrunning the day's steamships).[49][50] One apocryphal story is that the black house acquired its distinctive black colour when customs officers tried to smoke out some holed-up smugglers by lighting fires around the base.[49] The house was constructed in 1848 and used by shipwrights as a dwelling and workshop, smuggling was in decline with the introduction of a free-trade policy and more effective measures being implemented by the Coast Guard by this time, so the house may not in fact have had much involvement in smuggling. The spit has a long association with shipbuilding with two large ships being built in the mid-19th century, the Viscountess Canning of 193 tons and the Enterprise 253 tons.[8]

From 1848 to 1872, the Hengistbury Mining Company – formed by a Christchurch-based merchant, John E. Holloway – extracted many more ironstone boulders through quarrying. Holloway brought coal from Southampton, and took the ironstone as ballast for the return journey.[51] These boulders, known as Iron Doggers, were prized for their high quantity of iron ore (up to 30%).[52] They form the base of Hengistbury Head, and the removal of a substantial amount of doggers over the years has weakened the headland. These and earlier excavations resulted in a loss of up to a third of the head, caused mainly by erosion after the quarry's closure. The silt washed down also threatened the ecology of the saltmarsh below. This has been reduced by the building of a dam, in 1976, to create a pool. Many "doggers" can still be seen lining the route of the land-train and at the quarry.[52]

UK's first airshow

In 1910 the first international aviation meeting ever held in Britain took place on a specially laid out aerodrome consisting of a mile of grassland between the "Double Dykes" and the nearby village of Tuckton. About twenty pioneer aviators from around the world participated in various competitions including spot landing, altitude tests and speed trials (both for the fastest and slowest circuit).[53]

On the second day of the meeting, co-founder of Rolls-Royce and pioneer aviator Charles Rolls was thrown from his plane, which disintegrated beneath him. Despite the fact that the first-ever powered flight had occurred only seven years previously, Rolls had been attempting a precision landing. He died from his injuries shortly after his fall.[54] The event was Britain's earliest fatal flying accident involving a powered aircraft.[53]

20th century

There were a number of development schemes for the head including a major railway and docks scheme proposed in 1885, proposals for housing and a golf course were also put forward before

radar station. The area was also extensively mined. The head was finally cleared of the military defences by the 1950s.[58]

Present day

Warren Hill as seen from the beach, 2008
Gabions at Hengistbury Head

Hengistbury Head

Environmentally Sensitive Area.[59]

The head today is used for a variety of reasons. First, it is a tourist spot where country walks can be taken all over the head due to the well-defined gravel paths, some of which form part of the

wheelchair accessible. For example, it is now possible to gain wheelchair access to Quarry Pool. Regular field trips to the site are made by students of all ages and there are occasional guided tours or meetings around the head covering a wide variety of subjects.[3]

There is a cafe at the bottom of the head on the Bournemouth side. Hengistbury Head Outdoor Education centre is located near here on the south shore of the harbour. Run by

Ordnance Survey maps as 36 metres above sea level. Ample parking (subject to charges) can be found near the cafe, but the head is also within walking distance of Southbourne and parts of Christchurch
.

The Quarry Pool is now a significant part of the nature reserve features of the head. While it was very acidic in the early years, since 1990 it has allowed the growth of a significant number of plant and insect species, as well as mallard and little grebe. The insects provide valuable food for migrating sand martins and swallows.[63]

Visitor centre

A new visitor centre for Hengistbury Head was opened in December 2013.

Heritage Lottery Fund and £300,000 from landfill tax.[64]

The centre houses a display area which documents the site's archaeology, ecology and geology,[66] while work space has been created for volunteers and other community groups such as the Hengistbury Head Supporters Group, Residents' Association and Christchurch Harbour Ornithological Group.[3] The public now have the chance to scrutinise a selection of the finds discovered at Hengistbury Head in the last century, and to interact with experienced staff, as well as providing them with the opportunity to become actively involved in the administration of the nature reserve.[66]

The surrounding area has been extensively landscaped to create outdoor learning areas and a wildlife garden.

ground source heat pump for heating. A green roof (a living roof that is partially or completely covered with vegetation and a growing medium), is used to absorb rainfall and provide insulation.[65] The centre is constructed using timber-frame walls insulated with straw bales.[65]

Geography

According to Ian West of

marls with overlying sandy and lignitic beds
.

Erosion

One serious threat to the future of the Head is erosion of the exposed southern cliff face from wind and rain, as well as erosion caused by the sea primarily through the process of Longshore drift. A comparison of Ordnance Survey maps reveals that 25 metres of cliff was washed away between 1915 and 1962,[69] a process accelerated by the Bournemouth cliff's concreted promenade and groynes, construction of which started in the early 20th century. It is thought that in the last 200 years around 150 metres of land has been lost from the head.[69] The first attempt to counteract erosion came in the 1930s when Bournemouth Council constructed a breakwater now known as "the Long Groyne".[70] Since then, a gabion revetment has been constructed to secure the weakest point at the eastern end of the Head.[44] In a long-term project to secure the head's future, from 2005 to 2008 Poole Bay was replenished with 1.8 million cubic metres of beach material,[71] drawing ire from some surfers and beach lovers owing to the increase in sharp stones on Southbourne beach in particular.[72] The project's organizers, the Poole Bay Partnership, state that: "The resulting wide beaches have been a success in terms of their function as a coast protection structure and for the enjoyment they provide to the area's residents and visitors."[71]

Flora and fauna

The natterjack toad (Bufo calamita), the UK's rarest amphibian

Hengistbury Head forms part of the Christchurch Harbour

gorse eradication, has assisted in the restoration of this habitat to its ancient character.[74]

Present on the site is sea knotgrass (Polygonum maritimum), the rarest of the knotgrasses in Britain,[75] and currently listed as a "schedule 8 species" under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. Such plants are afforded greater than usual protection against damaging activities – such as "cutting, picking, destroying or selling."[76] The heathland is both a Special Area of Conservation and a Special Protection Area, part of a network of the best wildlife sites in Europe.[73]

The green hairstreak, Callophrys rubi

The various habitats provide homes to numerous species of insects. There are 700 moth species recorded in the nature reserve, again a quarter of the national total. At different spots across the site

thirteen-spotted ladybird (Hippodamia 13-punctata) was recently observed at the head, the first sighting in the UK since 1952.[73]

More than 300 bird species have been recorded in the area,

skylarks
during the summer months.

In 1989 a project commenced to re-introduce the country's rarest amphibian, the natterjack toad, to Hengistbury Head. The natterjack was last recorded on the headland in the 1950s before its extinction, probably as the result of a lack of suitable ponds.[81] The project has been a great success, and today there are thriving populations at various locations.[81] The ideal time to witness their mating rituals is in May as dusk approaches, when the distinctive call of the natterjack can be heard for miles around.[82]

Politics

Hengistbury Head is part of the Bournemouth East parliamentary constituency. Hengistbury Head is also part of the East Southbourne and Tuckton ward which elects two councillors to Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council.

See also

References

Citations

  1. ^ "Archaeology". Hengistbury Head Supporters Group. Archived from the original on 2 July 2013. Retrieved 22 March 2013.
  2. ^ "Hengistbury Head Nature Reserve". Hengistbury Head Supporters Group. Archived from the original on 25 April 2013. Retrieved 3 May 2013.
  3. ^ a b c d "Hengistbury Head Local Nature Reserve". Bournemouth Borough Council. Archived from the original on 7 September 2012. Retrieved 22 March 2013.
  4. S2CID 129928676
    . Retrieved 28 January 2018.
  5. doi:10.1080/00438243.1982.9979864
    .
  6. ^ "The five Mudeford beach huts up for sale for a total of £1m". 15 January 2015.
  7. ^ "Huts for rent". Mudeford Sandbank Beach Hut Association. Retrieved 3 May 2013.
  8. ^ a b "Mudeford Sandbank Management Plan" (PDF). Christchurch Borough Council. March 2001. Retrieved 23 March 2013. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  9. ^ "History of the Black House". The Black House. Retrieved 3 May 2013.
  10. ISBN 978-1-85975-761-1.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link
    )
  11. ^ Calendar of State Papers Domestic Series of the Reign of Charles 2. Preserved in Her Majestyʼs Public Record Office. Edited by Mary Anne Everett Green. Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts and Green. 1864. p. 569. Retrieved 1 April 2022.
  12. ^ Society of Antiquaries of London (1779). Archaeologia, Or, Miscellaneous Tracts Relating to Antiquity. The Society. p. 237. Retrieved 1 April 2022.
  13. ^ Cunliffe 1978, p. 15
  14. ^ a b c Cunliffe 1978, p. 23
  15. ISBN 0-7134-5625-6
    .
  16. ^ "New CAHO fieldwork at Hengistbury Head started". University of Southampton. 8 August 2011. Archived from the original on 5 November 2013. Retrieved 3 May 2013.
  17. ^ "Hengistbury Head Visitor Centre". Bournemouth Borough Council. Archived from the original on 4 May 2013. Retrieved 3 May 2013.
  18. ^ Cunliffe 1978, pp. 18–20
  19. ^ Pettitt & White 2012, p. 471.
  20. ^ Cunliffe 1978, p. 18
  21. ^ Cunliffe 1978, p. 20
  22. ^ Pettitt & White 2012, p. 472.
  23. ^ James, Peter (3 May 1984). "The Archers of Hengistbury Head". New Scientist: 36.
  24. doi:10.1111/j.1468-0092.1982.tb00298.x
    .
  25. ^ "Hengistbury Head". Pastscape. English Heritage. Retrieved 2 June 2013.
  26. ^ a b "The Bronze Age". Hengistbury Head Supporters Group. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 2 June 2013.
  27. ^ Cunliffe 1978, p. 21,82
  28. ^ Cunliffe 1978, p. 25
  29. ^ Cunliffe 1978, pp. 26–28
  30. ^ Cunliffe 1978, p. 35
  31. ^ Cunliffe 1978, p. 33
  32. ^ Hoodless 2005, p. 24
  33. ^ Jardine, David E. C. (1985). Hill Forts of the Stour Valley. Bournemouth Local Studies Publications.
  34. ^ a b Cunliffe 1978, p. 40
  35. ^ a b Cunliffe 1978, p. 41
  36. ^ a b Cunliffe 1978, p. 42
  37. ^ Cunliffe 1978, p. 44
  38. ^ Cunliffe 1978, pp. 45, 47
  39. ISBN 978-0-236-40125-3
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  40. ^ a b Cunliffe 1978, p. 67
  41. ^ Cunliffe 1978, p. 77
  42. ^ a b Cunliffe 1978, p. 79
  43. ^ Cunliffe 1978, p. 81
  44. ^ a b "Hengistbury Head Coastal Protection and Erosion". Bill Rees. Retrieved 2 June 2013.
  45. ^ Cross, D. A. E. (1963). Man and the Christchurch Avon (PDF). p. 3. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 September 2013. Retrieved 2 June 2013.
  46. ^ Rees, Bill (2011). "Hengistbury Head in the 17th Century". Retrieved 2 June 2013.
  47. ^ Rees, Bill (2011). "Hengistbury Head History: Overview".
  48. ^ Rees, Bill (2011). "18th century at the Head".
  49. ^ a b "Black House Holiday Apartments: History at the Black House".
  50. ^ Platt, Richard. "Smugglers Britain, Guide-Book: South-East England".
  51. ^ First section of information sign posted at Quarry Pool
  52. ^ a b Cross, D. A. E. (1963). Man and the Christchurch Avon (PDF). p. 7. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 September 2013. Retrieved 2 June 2013.
  53. ^ a b Walker, John (2008). "Bournemouth's flying circuses". Dorset Life (July).
  54. ^ Rees, Bill (2011). "Hengistbury Head from the Romans to the 20th Century".
  55. ^ Hoodless 2005, pp. 66–80
  56. ^ Hoodless 2005, pp. 47–50
  57. ^ Hoodless 2005, p. 73
  58. ^ Hoodless 2005, pp. 109–119
  59. ^ a b Hengistbury Head Nature Reserve, hengistburyhead.org Archived 25 April 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  60. ^ "Bournemouth to Lymington Town walk" (PDF). Southwest Trains. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 May 2013. Retrieved 31 May 2013.
  61. ^ "Hengistbury Head outdoor education centre |". Brockenhurst College.
  62. ^ Vass, Melanie (15 March 2014). "'Noddy train' at Hengistbury Head being axed after 45 years so council run their own land trains". Daily Echo. Retrieved 17 March 2014.
  63. ^ Second section of information sign posted at Quarry Pool
  64. ^ a b "Hengistbury Head visitor centre officially opened". BBC News. 14 December 2013.
  65. ^ a b c "Hengistbury Head visitor centre built with straw walls". BBC. 6 January 2013. Retrieved 22 March 2013.
  66. ^ a b "Hengistbury Head Visitor Centre". Bournemouth Borough Council. Archived from the original on 26 March 2013. Retrieved 22 March 2013.
  67. ^ "Design Layout". Bournemouth Borough Council. Archived from the original on 5 November 2013. Retrieved 22 March 2013.
  68. ^ West, Ian (2012). "Hengistbury Head Geology, Dorset".
  69. ^ a b c Cunliffe 1978, p. 11
  70. ^ Rees, Bill (2011). "Hengistbury Head in the 20th century".
  71. ^ a b Poole Bay Coastal Management | Coast Protection | Flood Defence | Swanage Poole Bournemouth Christchurch
  72. ^ Rees, Ceri (9 November 2006). "Replenished beach 'now a disaster'". Daily Echo. Retrieved 16 March 2013.
  73. ^ a b c d e "Hengistbury Head Management Plan" (PDF). Bournemouth Borough Council. Retrieved 29 May 2013.
  74. ^ "Hengistbury Head Management Plan January 2011" (PDF). Bournemouth Borough Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 March 2014. Retrieved 29 May 2013.
  75. ^ "Polygonum maritimum (sea knotgrass)". Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
  76. ^ Wild plants: dangerous, invasive and protected species – Detailed guidance – GOV.UK
  77. ^ Hengistbury Head.org, Nature, Woodland. Archived 12 July 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  78. ^ "Christchurch Harbour Odonata List". Christchurch Harbour Ornithological Group. Retrieved 2 June 2013.
  79. ^ a b "Harbour List". Christchurch Harbour Ornithological Group.
  80. ^ "Rarities". Christchurch Harbour Ornithological Group. Retrieved 2 June 2013.
  81. ^ a b "Ponds". Hengistbury Head Supporters Group. Archived from the original on 12 July 2013. Retrieved 2 June 2013.
  82. ^ "Natterjack toad". BBC Nature. Retrieved 2 June 2013.

Secondary sources

External links

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