Hingston Down

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Hingston Down is a hill near Gunnislake near Callington in Cornwall in the United Kingdom.

This is possibly the Hingston Down mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle which says that in 835 (corrected by scholars to 838) Egbert king of the West Saxons defeated an army of Vikings and Cornish at Hengestdun = "Stallion Hill". A more likely site for this battle is now thought to be at Hingston Down near Moretonhampstead in Devon as mentioned in Cornish World Magazine in Oct 2007.[1] This is thought to be the more likely location as it was nearly a full century later in 936 when King Athelstan fixed the east bank of the River Tamar as the boundary between Anglo-Saxon Wessex and Celtic Cornwall.[2] Up until 927 the two peoples had lived together in Devon and Exeter "aequo jure" = "by equal law".[3][4].

There is a quarry there, [5] and the Hingston Downs Consols mine is the type locality for the mineral Arthurite[6], which was discovered here.[7]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Cornish World Magazine - Oct 2007 - Craig Weatherill
  2. ^ Philip Payton. (1996). Cornwall. Fowey: Alexander Associates
  3. ^ William of Malmesbury - Gesta regum Anglorum about 1120
  4. ^ Professor Philip Payton 2004 - Cornwall - A History
  5. ^ Hingston Down Quarry, Gunnislake Area, Callington District, Cornwall, England, UK
  6. ^ Hingston Down Consols, Gunnislake Area, Callington District, Cornwall, England, UK
  7. ^ Embrey, P. G.; Symes, R. F. [1987]. "The mines and mining", Minerals of Cornwall and Devon. London: British Museum (Natural History), p.58. ISBN 0565009893. 
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