Boars Hill

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Boars Hill is located in the civil parish of Sunningwell, south of Oxford, in the English county of Oxfordshire (formerly Berkshire).

There is a good view of the city of Oxford from the hill and it provided the inspiration and setting for two of Matthew Arnold's most well-known poems, The Scholar Gipsy (1853) and Thyrsis (1866). The famous phrase in the latter "dreaming spires" encouraged people to climb the hill, and some of them bought plots, built houses, planted trees and erected fences; within a few decades they had hidden the view from all but a few places.

Poets were particularly attracted to the Hill, and for a couple of years after the end of World War I, there were several of them living there: Robert Bridges, Poet Laureate, John Masefield, soon to be his successor, Robert Graves - Masefield's tenant - and Edmund Blunden, both future Oxford Professors of Poetry (as Arnold had been) and Robert Nichols.

The archaeologist Sir Arthur Evans lived on Boars Hill from 1894 until his death in 1941. His house, 'Youlbury', has since been demolished. He had Jarn Mound built (by hand), surrounded by a wild garden, to maintain a view of Oxford, despite modern development. The mound is unfortunately now surrounded by houses and the view is obscured by conifer trees. Evans left part of his estate to the Boy Scouts and Youlbury Camp is still available for their use.