Bredon Hill
The tower and earthworks on top of Bredon Hill
Elevation:	299 m (981 ft)
Location:	Worcestershire, England
Prominence:	257 m
Topo map:	OS Landranger 150
OS grid reference:	SO958402
Listing:	Marilyn

Bredon Hill is a hill in the English county of Worcestershire, south-west of Evesham. It lies within the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and although geologically part of the Cotswold upland with its yellow oolitic limestone, the western escarpment of the Cotswolds has eroded eastwards several kilometres since its rock was laid down more than 100 million years ago from corals at the bottom of a warm sea. As a result, the hill now stands isolated in the Vale of Evesham. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (2048x1536, 647 KB)Parsons Folly and earthworks of Iron Age fort on Bredon Hill, Worcestershire. ... A topographical summit is a point on a surface which is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. ... The metre (Commonwealth English) or meter (American English) (symbol: m) is the SI base unit of length. ... A foot (plural: feet) is a non-SI unit of distance or length, measuring around a third of a meter. ... Worcestershire (pronounced ; abbreviated Worcs) is a county located in the West Midlands region of central England. ... Royal motto (French): Dieu et mon droit (Translated: God and my right) Englands location within the British Isles Official language English de facto Capital London de facto Largest city London Area – Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population – Total (mid-2004) – Total (2001 Census) – Density Ranked 1st UK... In topography, prominence, also known as autonomous height, relative height, shoulder drop or prime factor (in Europe), is a concept used in the categorization of hills and mountains. ... Example of a topographic map with contour lines Topographic maps, also called contour maps, topo maps or topo quads (for quadrangles), are maps that show topography, or land contours, by means of contour lines. ... Image produced from the Ordnance Survey Get-a-map service. ... The British national grid reference system is a system of geographic grid references commonly used in Great Britain, different from using latitude or longitude. ... Peak bagging (also hill bagging, mountain bagging, or among enthusiasts, just bagging) is a popular activity for hillwalkers and mountaineers in which they attempt to reach the summit of each peak in a region above some height, or having a particular feature. ... A Marilyn is a hill with a relative height of at least 150 metres, regardless of absolute height or other merit. ... Royal motto (French): Dieu et mon droit (Translated: God and my right) Englands location within the British Isles Official language English de facto Capital London de facto Largest city London Area – Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population – Total (mid-2004) – Total (2001 Census) – Density Ranked 1st UK... Worcestershire (pronounced ; abbreviated Worcs) is a county located in the West Midlands region of central England. ... Location within the British Isles The Market Place in Evesham, circa 1904 Evesham (or the Sham as it is known to its inhabitants) is a middle-sized, rural market town in Worcestershire, England. ... The Cotswolds are a range of hills in central England, sometimes called the heart of England, a hilly area reaching over 300 m or 1000 feet. ... Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) is a United Kingdom. ... An Oolite (or an oolith or ooid) is a sphere typically consisting of several concentric layers of calcite or aragonite (forms of calcium carbonate) that was created by precipitation in the supersaturated warm waters of shallow tropical seas. ... The Vale of Evesham is the name used for the area of southern Worcestershire, England, along the valley of the River Avon, centred on the town of Evesham. ...

Oolitic limestone stone wall on Bredon Hill, separating grassland summit area from cropped area.

On top of the hill are the remains of earthworks from an Iron Age fort, as well as a small stone tower known as Parsons' Folly. The tower was built in the 18th Century for Mr Parsons of Kemerton and intended as a summer house, from which a more extensive view of the surrounding countryside could be seen. The 981 feet natural height of the hill may have contributed to the final height of the tower, whose top now reaches 1000 feet. A similar tower on Leith Hill increases the overall height from 968 feet to 1000 feet. Since the 1980s the tower has been used as a mobile phone base station; two antennas mounted on the corners of the structure can be seen in the photograph. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (2048x1536, 713 KB)Oolitic limestone stone wall on Bredon Hill, Worcestershire. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (2048x1536, 713 KB)Oolitic limestone stone wall on Bredon Hill, Worcestershire. ... An Oolite (or an oolith or ooid) is a sphere typically consisting of several concentric layers of calcite or aragonite (forms of calcium carbonate) that was created by precipitation in the supersaturated warm waters of shallow tropical seas. ... Detail of a dry stone wall in the Yorkshire Dales. ... Iron Age Axe found on Gotland This article is about the archaeological period known as the Iron Age, for the mythological Iron Age see Iron Age (mythology). ... The tower on the top of Leith Hill Leith Hill to the south west of Dorking reaches 295 metres (968 feet) above sea level, the highest point on the North Downs, and is either the highest or second highest point in south-east England, depending on whether one counts Walbury...

In addition to the Iron Age fort there are Roman earthworks and a number of ancient standing stones on the hill. One pair of stones below the summit are known as the King and Queen stone. Local legend tells that if you pass between these stones you will be cured of illness. Principal sites in Roman Britain Roman Britain refers to those parts of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire between 43 and 410 CE. The Romans referred to their province as Britannia. ...

The area around the highest point is grassland with open public access under a DEFRA Countryside Stewardship scheme. As well as promoting access, it aims to manage the landscape to protect the archaeological features and protect wildlife such as the Violet Click Beetle. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is the United Kingdom government department responsible for environmental protection, food production and standards, agriculture, fisheries and rural communities. ... Binomial name Limoniscus violaceus (Müller, 1821) The Violet Click Beetle (Limoniscus violaceus) is a black beetle, 12 mm long, with a faint blue/violet reflection. ...

A large number of public footpaths and bridleways cross the hill from the villages circling its base, and allow for a variety of circular routes to be devised. The Wychavon Way passes over the hill, but does not reach the summit.

The Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 map has for many years shown the top as 229 metres high. That this is a typographical error is obvious from the contours; the 1:25,000 map shows the spot height as 299 metres. It may be an intentional error, intended to discourage plagiarism of copyright-protected Ordnance Survey map design. Image produced from the Ordnance Survey Get-a-map service. ... Plagiarism is a form of academic malpractice specifically referring to the use of anothers information, language, or writing, when done without proper acknowledgment of the original source. ... Copyright symbol. ...

The hill is imortalised in poem 21 of A. E. Housman's A Shropshire Lad. Alfred Edward Housman (March 26, 1859 - April 30, 1936), usually known as A.E. Housman, was an English poet and classical scholar, now best known for his cycle of poems A Shropshire Lad. ... A Shropshire Lad is a cycle of sixty-three poems by the English poet Alfred Edward Housman. ...

In summertime on Bredon

The bells they sound so clear;

Round both the shires they ring them

In steeples far and near,

A happy noise to hear.

Here of a Sunday morning

My love and I would lie,

And see the coloured counties,

And hear the larks so high

About us in the sky.

The bells would ring to call her

In valleys miles away;

"Come all to church, good people;

Good people come and pray."

But here my love would stay.

And I would turn and answer

Among the springing thyme,

"Oh, peal upon our wedding,

And we will hear the chime,

And come to church in time."

But when the snows at Christmas

On Bredon top were strown,

My love rose up so early

And stole out unbeknown

And went to church alone.

They tolled the one bell only,

Groom there was none to see,

The mourners followed after,

And so to church went she,

And would not wait for me.

The bells they sound on Bredon,

And still the steeples hum,

"Come all to church, good people."

O noisy bells, be dumb;

I hear you, I will come.

When Worcester Cathedral was damaged in the English civil war, it was repaired with stone brought from Bredon. A plan of Worcester Cathedral made in 1836. ... The term English Civil War (or Wars) refers to the series of armed conflicts and political machinations which took place between English Parliamentarians and Royalists from 1642 until 1651. ...

The naming of Bredon Hill is unusual in that it is combines the name for "hill" of three different languages. The word Bre is of Celtic origin, the prefix don denotes an Old English usage, whilst the English word Hill has also become attached to the name. A hill in Hungary with a hillside vintage garden For the landform that extends less than 600 metres above the surrounding terrain and that is smaller than a mountain, see the mountain article. ... The Celtic languages are the languages descended from Proto-Celtic, or Common Celtic, spoken by ancient and modern Celts alike. ... Old English (also called Anglo-Saxon) is an early form of the English language that was spoken in parts of what is now England and southern Scotland between the mid-fifth century and the mid-twelfth century. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ...