High Peak is a partially eroded hill (resulting in a cliff face) on the English Channel coast near Sidmouth, Devon, southern England.
Contents |
High Peak is to the southwest of the town Sidmouth and to the northeast of the village of Otterton. Sidmouth lies about 20 kilometres east of Exeter, 14 kilometres south of Honiton and about 16 kilometres northeast of Exmouth.
The highest point of High Peak is about 157 metres above sea-level. On the edge of the cliff there are the remains of significant earthworks, which have been variously shown as having Iron Age, Roman and Dark Age occupation. Geological study, and the lines of the earthworks suggest that the site once extended several tens of metres into what is now eroded away. General interpretation of High Peak suggests that it was an Iron Age defensive site which saw re-use in the Dark Age period, perhaps as a coastal trading station.[1]
The Jurassic Coast stretches over a distance of 153 kilometres (95 mi), from Orcombe Point near Exmouth, in the west, to Old Harry Rocks near Studland, in the east[2]. The coastal exposures along the coastline provide a continuous sequence of Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous rock formations spanning approximately 185 million years of the Earths history. The cliff face of High Peak is part of the Jurassic Coast.
The localities along the Jurassic Coast includes a large range of important fossil zones. Within the cliffs below High Peak and Chit Rocks a number of very rare fossils of Triassic fish, reptiles and amphibians have been found.
There are four rock strata in the cliff face of High Peak. The "Otter Sandstone Formation" that forms the base of the cliffs were deposited in a hot dry climates in the Triassic Period about 220 Million years ago. The deposits in the centre of the cliff face are from the Mercia Mudstone Group and were formed about 200 Million years ago.
Above these Triassic formations, there are layers of Upper Greensand, a Cretaceous rock formation, about 80 Million years old. The top of High Peak is underlain by flint gravel that was probably left behind following the solution of an original cover of chalk during the early Tertiary period about 60 to 65 Million years ago.