The Devil's Punch Bowl is a large natural amphitheatre and beauty spot near Hindhead, Surrey, in England, and is the source of many stories about the area. The London to Portsmouth road (the A3) used to climb round its side, but this is now closed due to the Hindhead Tunnel opening on the 27th July 2011[1]. The land is now owned and maintained by the National Trust as part of the "Hindhead Commons & The Devil's Punch Bowl Café" property. Hindhead Youth Hostel is located inside the bowl. Above the London to Portsmouth road lies Gibbet Hill.
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The name Devil's Punch Bowl dates from at least 1768, the year that John Rocque's map of the area was published. This was 18 years before the murder of the unknown sailor on Gibbet Hill so this event was clearly not the origin of the name. Prior to 1768 it was marked as "ye Bottom" on a map by John Ogilby dated 1675. The northern end of the Bowl is known as Highcombe Bottom which exists in different variants: Hackombe Bottom,[2] Hacham Bottom[3] and Hackham Bottom.[4] These variants indicate that the meaning of the name is "Hay-combe" rather than "High-combe".
The soil in this part of Surrey has two layers — an upper layer of sandstone, with clay beneath. This deep depression is believed to be the result of erosion caused by spring water beneath the sandstone, causing the upper level to collapse. With its steep sides, the Devil's Punch Bowl has become a natural nature reserve, filled with heathland, streams and woodland.
The site has abundant wildlife. Most woodland species can be seen easily - including Lesser Spotted Woodpecker and Redstart. It is known for being the last remaining locality of Wood Warbler in Surrey.
Local legend has a much more colourful theory as to its creation. According to one story, during the Middle Ages the Devil became so irritated by all the churches being built in Sussex that he decided to dig a channel from the English Channel, through the South Downs, and flood the area. As he began digging, he threw up huge lumps of earth, each of which became a local landmark — such as Chanctonbury Ring, Cissbury Ring, Mount Caburn and Rackham Hill. He got as far as the village of Poynings (an area known as the Devil's Dyke) when he was disturbed by a cock crowing (one version of the story claims that it was the prayers of St Dunstan that made all the local cocks crow earlier than usual). Assuming that dawn was about to break, he leapt into Surrey, creating the Devil's Punch Bowl where he landed.
Another story goes that, in his spare time, he hurled lumps of earth at the god Thor to annoy him. The hollow he scooped the earth out of became the Punch Bowl. The local village of Thursley means Thor's place.[5]
A still older story claims that two giants clashed in the area, and one, scooping up earth to throw at the other, created the landmark before missing the throw and creating the Isle of Wight.
It is these stories, the beauty of the area and the diversity of nature it attracts that has gained the Devil's Punch Bowl the title of a Site of Special Scientific Interest. This status has recently helped save the Devil's Punch Bowl from above-ground redevelopment of the A3, which was needed to relieve traffic congestion in the area, as this section of the A3 was single-carriageway. The National Trust co-operated with developers who designed the twin-bore Hindhead Tunnel, running underneath the surrounding area. The tunnel preserves not only the area from the road widening originally proposed but also removes the heavy traffic congestion which previously affected this section of the A3 in peak hours. The old A3 road, apart from a small stub to the National Trust cafe, is to be removed and the land reinstated.[6][7]
Punch Bowl Farm, at the northern end of the Devil's Punch Bowl, was the home of children's novelist Monica Edwards from 1947 until the early 1970s. In her books she renamed the farm Punchbowl Farm. Edwards also wrote about the area, including her years of observation of badger families, in her various volumes of memoirs.
The Devil's Punch Bowl was featured on the 2005 TV programme Seven Natural Wonders as one of the wonders of the South.
The third novel in the Horatio Hornblower series, Flying Colours by C.S. Forester, makes a one-line reference to the Devil's Punch Bowl in chapter eighteen as Hornblower is returning to London: "Even the marvellous beauty of the Devil's Punch Bowl was lost on Hornblower as they drove past it."
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