Bell Hill, Dorset

Bell Hill

View from Bell Hill looking down Bell Hill Rd towards the Blackmore Vale
Elevation 258 m (846 ft)[1]
Prominence 50 m (160 ft)[1]
Parent peak Lewesdon Hill [1]
Location
Location Dorset, England
Range Dorset Downs
OS grid ST800082
Coordinates 50°52′25″N 2°17′10″W / 50.8736°N 2.2860°WCoordinates: 50°52′25″N 2°17′10″W / 50.8736°N 2.2860°W
Topo map OS Landranger 194
The River Stour with Shillingstone Hill, an eastern spur of Bell Hill, in the background

At 258 metres, Bell Hill is one of the highest hills in the county of Dorset, England and a high point on the Wessex Ridgeway.

Location

Bell Hill lies about 5 miles west of Blandford Forum. The village of Ibberton nestles against its southwestern foot, whilst a little further to the northeast, below Okeford Hill on the same ridgeline, is the village of Okeford Fitzpaine.[2]

The summit itself lies on a ridge running from northeast to southwest. To the northwest its escarpment drops steeply in to the Blackmore Vale and Stour Valley, whilst to the southeast the woods of Turnworth Clump and Ringmoor are bracketed by two more ridges, Ibberton Long Down and Turnworth Down, forming a horseshoe with Bell Hill. Another spur runs east from Turnworth Down to Shillingstone Hill, site of a quarry and a popular cross-country race. A trig point on the Wessex Ridgeway marks this subsidiary summit.[2]

History

There is evidence of prehistoric settlement, with a tumulus (a bowl barrow[3]) 500 metres southwest of the summit, a cross dyke beyond it and a settlement and field system in the area of the Ringmoor plantation. Ringmoor is a National Trust property. A disused pit at the foot of the escarpment indicates earlier quarrying activity.[2]

The villages of Belchalwell in the vale a mile to the northwest, and Belchalwell Street at the foot of the scarp, took their names from the original names of the two settlements, Bell and Chaldwell. Bell, now Belchalwell, was named after Bell Hill, and Chaldwell became Belchalwell Street.[4]

Sport

Bell Hill is a designated paragliding site.[5]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Summit Listings by Relative Height by Jonathan de Ferranti. Accessed on 27 Mar 2013.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 Landranger series, no. 194
  3. ↑ Cross Dyke and Bowl Barrow on Bell Hill 690m North East of Baker's Folly at www.ancientmonuments.info. Accessed on 27 Mar 2013.
  4. ↑ The Dorset Walk – Woolland, Belchalwell and Ibberton at www.dorsetlife.co.uk. Accessed on 27 Mar 2013.
  5. ↑ Bell Hill at www.paraglidingearth.com. Accessed on 27 Mar 2013.