Duncorn Hill Explained

Duncorn Hill is an English, landmark, rounded hill with a flat top close to the Fosse Way. It is on a limestone plateau south of Bath in Somerset and summits at 585feet above sea level.[1] The hill's name derives from Celtic din for fort and corn meaning horn shaped.

Geology

The hill's bedrock is limestone of the Great Oolite Group[2] with deposits of fuller's earth[3] containing fossil shellfish.[4] This is typically covered with a free draining soil layer of 5-, mostly brown or greyish brown but with some yellow patches.[5]

History

It has been speculated Duncorn Hill had been the site of a Bronze or Iron Age hill fort.[6] [7] Field investigations were undertaken in 1966, but no evidence of a fort was found.[8] The scarps previously thought to be part of a man-made structure were shown to be natural geological formations. Investigators found no evidence of the cairns described in 18th century descriptions.[9] Nevertheless in 1975, Ralph Whitlock wrote of Iron Age, occupied, hilltop earthworks.[10]

References

51.3529°N -2.4056°W

Notes and References

  1. Book: Appendix 8 Rural Landscapes of Bath and North East Somerset . World Heritage Site Setting Study . 2003 . ...and Duncorn Hill. These are important landmarks within the area. . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110115233923/http://bathnes.gov.uk/SiteCollectionDocuments/Environment%20and%20Planning/World%20Heritage%20Site%20Setting%20Study%20rev4%20current%2022-10-09%20WEB%20VERSION%20PART%205.pdf . 15 January 2011 .
  2. Book: The Jurassic rocks of Britain . . Charles . Fox-Strangways . Horace Bolingbroke Woodward . Woodward . Horace Bolingbroke . 1894 . 97 . 4 . Google Books . 5 February 2023 . 5 February 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230205200155/https://books.google.com/books?id=YW0RAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA97 . live .
  3. Book: Memoirs of the Geological Survey of Great Britain and the Museum of Economic Geology in London . . 1876 . 126,131 .
  4. Variation in the Terebratulacea of the Fuller's Earth Rock . William Stuart . Mckerrow . 10.1144/GSL.JGS.1953.109.01-04.06 . February 1953 . Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society . 109 . 1–4 . 97–124 . 129156166 .
  5. Journal of the South Eastern Agricultural College . 41 . 1938 . 189–195 . Bath, Somerset . A James . Low .
  6. Web site: Monument NO. 204516. Pastscape. Historic England. 12 February 2017.
  7. Book: Geology of East Somerset and the Bristol coal-fields . 1876 . Horace Bolingbroke . Woodward . Frank . Rutley . Frank Rutley . Robert . Etheridge . 126,131,261 . Google Books . 5 February 2023 . 5 February 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230205200155/https://books.google.com/books?id=kfe7AAAAIAAJ . live .
  8. Web site: Duncorn Hill . Fortified England . 16 January 2011 . 11 July 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110711020611/http://www.fortifiedengland.com/Home/Categories/ViewItem/tabid/61/Default.aspx?IID=1415 . live .
  9. Web site: Pastscape Monument No. 204516 . English Heritage . 24 January 2011 .
  10. Book: Whitlock, Ralph . Somerset . Ralph Whitlock . 1975 . Batsford . 55.

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