St Catherine's Hill, Dorset

Coordinates: 50°45′26″N 1°47′48″W / 50.757115°N 1.796639°W / 50.757115; -1.796639
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St Catherine's Hill
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townChristchurch
Postcode districtBH23
PoliceDorset
FireDorset and Wiltshire
AmbulanceSouth Western
List of places
UK
England
Dorset
50°45′26″N 1°47′48″W / 50.757115°N 1.796639°W / 50.757115; -1.796639

St Catherine's Hill is a 53-metre (174 ft) hill in the borough of

and two types of carnivorous plant.

Humans have been visiting the hill as far back as the

. Most visitors today use the hill as an area to exercise their dogs or for other recreational activities such as cycling, jogging and horse riding.

Toponymy

The hill takes its name from a chapel dedicated to St Catherine of Alexandria that once stood on its summit.[1] 12th century documents suggest the hill was formerly known as Richedon,[2] Old English for ‘Great Hill’, perhaps to compare with Littledown across the River Stour to the south-west. In 1331, a chapel dedicated to St Catherine was described as being "newly built on the hill of Richesdon".[3][4]

Older documents refer to an unlicensed chapel dedicated to St Leonard at Rishton, but there is some debate as to whether this was the same place, and therefore, whether the hill was the site of a former chapel.

Pagan deity.[6]

History

Animal remains from before the

long barrows in the adjacent Stour valley shows Neolithic people were using the area but there is no direct evidence they visited the hill.[8] There are however, Bronze Age tumuli over all three hills including St Catherine's and agricultural sites in the valley below from both the Neolithic and Bronze Age.[9] There is also an unexcavated enclosure on top of the hill which is considered too small to be a fort and is thought to be an Iron Age animal pound.[10]

View over Christchurch towards Hengistbury Head

The earliest evidence of its use as such is

Avon and Stour rivers, both navigable, until the 18th century, as far as Salisbury and Blandford respectively.[12][13] Fragments of Roman pottery have been found in a ditch, which appears to be part of a fortification or signal station overlooking the main road from Christchurch to Wimborne and an important fording point on the Stour.[10] From a simple wooden tower, the River Avon, the harbour and Hengistbury Head would have been viewable here.[14]

A chapel was built within the boundaries of the old Roman signal station. Though it is not definitely known when it was constructed, a document from 1331 states that a chapel dedicated to St Catherine was "newly built on the hill of Richesdon". This appears to have been granted without the knowledge of the Bishop of Winchester,

dissolution of Christchurch Priory in 1539 and was stripped of any usable building material.[15]

The chapel site was investigated in 1921 by The Bournemouth Natural Science Society, with guidance from

Heyward Sumner. Fragments of Purbeck stone, stone roof tiles and glazed floor tiles were found in exploratory trenches, but no hewn stone nor foundations were revealed. The society concluded that there had been a substantial building on-site, but the usable material had been removed and it was not possible to determine size or form.[16] A more thorough excavation took place in 1967. The Bournemouth Archaeological Association directed by Michael Ridley, found a number of artefacts, including an ichthys drawn on a piece of stone, glazed and unglazed pottery, and some shards of mediaeval coloured glass. They also discovered two types of flooring, a glazed tile floor and an earlier marble one, along with seven types of building stone and eight different roof tiles, suggesting that the chapel had stood for a considerable amount of time.[15] The hill was initially chosen as the site for Christchurch Priory. A local legend tells how the church was then built at its present location, after the building materials were moved there each night.[17][18]

Across the Avon Valley to the Solent, Isle of Wight and the Needles. As seen from St Catherine's Hill

In

Napoleonic Era when an invasion by the French was expected.[19] The military has made use of the hill for training purposes. During the Crimean War, when a battalion of the Royal Horse Artillery was stationed at Christchurch Barracks, the hill was used for training in the pulling and unlimbering of guns on rough terrain.[20][21]

20th century onwards

During

Second World War, for tank driving practice.[20] Anti-aircraft guns were positioned there to protect the aerodrome at Hurn.[21] After the war, the Royal Observer Corps built a nuclear bunker into the hill.[22] It was designed so that a three-man team could survive within for up to three weeks whilst observing the effects of a nuclear blast. After closing in 1991 the ROC Post was filled in, with the only remaining feature being a single disused telegraph pole 15 yards (14 m) away.[22][23]

In the early 20th century, sand and gravel extraction took place on part of the hill, such as on the east side of the plateau, where the whole of what was once Toothill has been removed. The remaining pit has become partly filled with water. Extraction continued until at least 1933, when a local newspaper complained that a tumulus was being sold off at a shilling a load.[20][19] A reservoir was first constructed on the hill in 1895. It was rebuilt in 1930 and a second reservoir was added in 1960. The reservoirs provide Christchurch and West Hampshire with four million gallons of water.[20] In the 1960s and 70s, most of the west side of the hill was developed for housing.[24]

A survey conducted in 2012, showed that the hill was mainly used for leisure and educational activities, such as walking,

Amphibian and Reptile Conservation group (ARC) manage an area of heath on the north and east sides of the hill, and is one of a number of groups that conduct guided walks around the hill and surrounding area;[28][29] while on the south side, the local gun club practises target shooting in one of the old, disused quarries.[18]

Geography

Quarrying on the hill has exposed its geological make up.

St Catherine's Hill, together with Ramsdown and Blackwater hills, comprise a 3-mile (4.8 km) long ridge running roughly north to south between the Avon and Stour valleys just to the north-west of where the rivers converge in the borough of Christchurch in Dorset.[11][30][31] The top of this ridge is almost a level plateau, 45 metres (148 ft) above sea-level at the southern end and 49 metres (161 ft) in the north. St Catherine's hill, in the south, forms the highest point of this three hill chain at 53 metres (174 ft) and has some of the steepest slopes at 1:1 or 45°.[30][31] The 400 acres (160 ha) site is a mixture of woodland and heath and is part of a larger Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). The eastern slopes and foot of the hill, an area referred to as the Town Common, is almost exclusively open heath and as such has also been designated a Special Protection Area (SPA) and Special Area of Conservation (SAC).[18][31]

St Catherine's Hill was formed during the

fluvial or estuarine period, rather than the more commonly associated, marine environment. If so, they are the only known sediments of this age in Southern England to be laid down in this way and indicate an Eocene shoreline between Christchurch and Hengistbury Head. These strata add to the value of the site as a geological SSSI.[30][32]

View over the heath covered eastern slopes and Town Common

The soils covering the hill and surrounding area are acidic and generally low in nutrients. These soils support a selection of habitats from wet and dry heathland, to deciduous and coniferous woodland and scrubland.

pale butterwort (Pinguicula lusitanica).[35]

Conifers and Rhododendron dominate the western slopes.

Coniferous woodland dominates the top and western slopes of the hill and comprises mostly

Scots pine. Broadleaf trees are mainly confined to the south and west side but also occur on the lower east side. They include grey willow and downy birch and the occasional aspen in damper areas. Some trees, particularly the conifers have become invasive and a programme of removal has been instigated.[40] The hill's mix of woodland and heath provides habitats for a number of important bird species including birds of prey such as the hobby (Falco subbuteo), buzzard (Buteo buteo), hen harrier (Circus cyaneus) and merlin (Falco columbarius);[37][41] woodland birds including the song thrush (Turdus philomelos), crossbill (Loxia curvirostra) and green (Picus viridus) and great spotted (Dendrocopos major) woodpeckers, all of which are declining in numbers;[37] and wetland birds such as snipe and the red shank (Tringa totanus).[36] Many of these species also use the area for breeding, along with the rare Dartford warbler (Sylvia undata), woodcock (Scolopax rusticola) and nightjar (Caprimulgus europaeus).[36][41]

Some rare invertebrates inhabit the hill and its surrounding area. The

heath grasshopper (Chorthippus vagans) is found on the sandy areas among the heather, along with the silver-studded blue butterfly (Plebejus argus).[39]

References

  1. ^ Hodges p. 14
  2. ISBN 978-1-85975-761-1.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link
    )
  3. ^ .
  4. ^ a b Hodges p. 17
  5. ^ Mrs Arthur Bell (1916). From Harbour to Harbour : The Story of Christchurch, Bournemouth, and Poole from the Earliest Times to the Present Day. G Bell and Sons Ltd, London. p. 68. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
  6. ^ Hodges p. 11
  7. ^ Hodges p. 2
  8. ^ Hodges pp. 2–3
  9. ^ Hodges p. 3
  10. ^ a b Hodges p. 6
  11. ^ a b Hodges p. 1
  12. ^ Stannard p. 1
  13. ^ Hoodless pp. 31 & 64
  14. ^ Hodges pp. 8–9
  15. ^ a b Hodges p. 18
  16. ^ W G Wallace. Proceedings of the Bournemouth Natural Science Society, Vol XIII, 1920-21. BNSS. p. 63. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
  17. ^ Hodges p. 10
  18. ^ a b c Chris Chapleo (November 2006). "Christchurch's St Catherine's Hill". Dorset Life Magazine. Archived from the original on 23 November 2017. Retrieved 15 March 2014.
  19. ^ a b Hodges p. 22
  20. ^ a b c d St Catherine's Hill and Town Common Management Plan 2012–2023 (Section 5 – History) p. 33
  21. ^ a b c Hodges p. 23
  22. ^ a b Hodges p. 24
  23. ^ "ROC and WMO Monitoring Posts". Subterranea Britannica. Retrieved 16 April 2014.
  24. ^ Hodges p. 25
  25. ^ St Catherine's Hill and Town Common Management Plan 2012–2023 (Section 6 – Access and Use) pp. 35–36
  26. ^ St Catherine's Hill and Town Common Management Plan 2012–2023 (Section 6 – Access and Use) p. 38
  27. ^ St Catherine's Hill and Town Common Management Plan 2012–2023 {Section 8 – Actions) pp. 61–62
  28. ^ St Catherine's Hill and Town Common Management Plan 2012–2023 (Section 6 – Access and Use) pp. 36–37
  29. ^ St Catherine's Hill and Town Common Management Plan 2012–2023 (Section 2 – Background) p. 13
  30. ^ a b c d St Catherine's Hill and Town Common Management Plan 2012–2023 (Section 3 – Physical Features) p. 14
  31. ^ a b c St Catherine's Hill and Town Common Management Plan 2012–2023 (Section 1 – Introduction) p. 1
  32. ^ St Catherine's Hill and Town Common Management Plan 2012–2023 (Appendices) p. 17
  33. ^ St Catherine's Hill and Town Common Management Plan 2012–2023 (Section 4 – Ecology) p. 19
  34. ^ St Catherine's Hill and Town Common Management Plan 2012–2023 (Section 3 – Physical Features) pp. 14 & 15
  35. ^ a b c d St Catherine's Hill and Town Common Management Plan 2012–2023 (Appendices) p. 18
  36. ^ a b c d e St Catherine's Hill and Town Common Management Plan 2012–2023 (Section 2 – Background) p. 8
  37. ^ a b c St Catherine's Hill and Town Common Management Plan 2012–2023 (Section 4 – Ecology) p. 22
  38. ^ St Catherine's Hill and Town Common Management Plan 2012–2023 (Section 3 – Physical Features) p. 15
  39. ^ a b St Catherine's Hill and Town Common Management Plan 2012–2023 (Section 4 – Ecology) p. 26
  40. ^ St Catherine's Hill and Town Common Management Plan 2012–2023 (Section 4 – Ecology) p. 21
  41. ^ a b St Catherine's Hill and Town Common Management Plan 2012–2023 (Section 2 – Background) p. 9

Bibliography