Brendon Hills
| Brendon Hills | |
|---|---|
 Brendon Hills - B3224 | |
| Highest point | |
| Elevation | 1,388 ft (423 m) |
| Coordinates | 51°07′26″N3°30′04″W/ 51.12389°N 3.50111°W |
| Geography | |
| Location | Somerset,England |
| OS grid | SS950371 |
TheBrendon Hillsare a range of hills in westSomerset,England.The hills merge level into the eastern side ofExmoorand are included within theExmoor National Park.The highest point of the range is Lype Hill at 1,388 feet (423 m) above sea level with a secondary summit several kilometres to the southeast at 1,350 feet (411 m). Both points are marked byOrdnance Surveytrig pointsand are located within enclosed farmland. Early versions of the name includeBrunedunandBrundonreflecting an original name ofBrunaorBrune,meaning 'brown one'.Dunis a commonOld Englishword for a fairly flat and extensive hill.[1][2]This name is not connected with the village ofBrendonin Devon, the name of which has a different origin.[3]
The terrain is broken by a series of deeply incised streams and rivers running roughly southwards to meet theRiver Haddeo,a tributary of theRiver Exe.[4]The hills are quite heavily cultivated unlike their neighbouring upland areas of Exmoor and theQuantock Hills.The Brendon Hills are largely formed from theMorte Slates,a thickfaultedandfoldedsequence ofDevonianage sedimentary rocks. An east-west alignedanticline/synclinepair known as the Brendon Anticline and Brendon Syncline folds these rocks. The fold couplet is itself offset by displacement of the rocks on the NNW-SSE aligned Timberscombe Fault System.[5]Over the centuries they have beenmined for minerals,notablyironstonefrom which iron is extracted for makingsteel.[6]During the 19th century this activity reached a peak with theWest Somerset Mineral Railway,including an 800 feet (244 m) incline, being built to take the ore toWatchetfrom where it was sent toEbbw Valeforsmelting.The main mining operations ended when the mines were worked out towards the end of the 19th century.
The hills are on the route of theColeridge Wayand are also crossed by theSamaritans Way.[7]
References
[edit]
- ^Gelling, M. and Cole, A. 2000The Landscape of Place-namesShaun Tyas, Stamford, Lincs p164 et seq
- ^Gelling, M. 1993Place-names in the LandscapeDent, London p145,147
- ^Ekwall, E. 1981The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-names,Fourth edition, Clarendon Press, Oxford p63
- ^"Brendon Hills NMP".English Heritage.Retrieved23 November2007.
- ^Webby, B.D. 1965Proceedings of the Geologists' Associationvolume 76, part 1 quoted athttp://www.westsomersetmineralrailway.org.uk/
- ^"Brendon Hills".Everything Exmoor.Archived fromthe originalon 14 January 2009.Retrieved23 November2007.
- ^Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 scale 'Explorer map' sheet OL9Exmoor
