Hingston Down is a hill not far from Gunnislake in Cornwall in the United Kingdom.
Contents |
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 probable 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] The quarry forms the Hingston Down Quarry & Consols SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest), noted for its mineralisation.[8]