Hingston Down Explained

50.521°N -4.2473°WHingston Down is a hill not far from Gunnislake in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is the subject of an old rhyme, due to the prolific tin mining that formerly took place in the area:

This Hingston Down should not be confused with the Hingston Down at 50.661°N -3.746°W, a hill spur about a mile east of the town of Moretonhampstead in the neighbouring county of Devon.

History

The hill is usually accepted as the place mentioned in an entry in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for 835 (corrected by scholars to 838) which says that Ecgberht king of the West Saxons defeated an army of Vikings and Cornish at the Battle of Hingston Down (Hengestdūn = "Stallion Hill").^[1]

Geology

The Hingston Down Consols mine on the hill is the type locality for the mineral Arthurite,^[2] which was discovered here.^[3] There is also a quarry on the hill,^[4] which forms the Hingston Down Quarry & Consols Site of Special Scientific Interest, noted for its mineralisation.^[5]

See also

• Kit Hill Country Park

Notes and References

1. See, for example: Book: Higham, Robert . Making Anglo-Saxon Devon. The Mint Press. Exeter. 2008. 64. 978-1-903356-57-9.
   In the October 2007 issue of Cornish World Magazine, Craig Weatherhill suggested the Hingston Down near Moretonhampstead in Devon as a more likely location. Web site: Archived copy . 2012-06-29 . bot: unknown . https://web.archive.org/web/20080509190835/http://www.cornishworldmagazine.co.uk/content/view/71/101/ . 9 May 2008 .
2. http://www.mindat.org/loc-879.html Hingston Down Consols, Gunnislake Area, Callington District, Cornwall, England, UK
3. Book: Embrey, P. G. . Symes, R. F. . Minerals of Cornwall and Devon . 1987 . British Museum (Natural History). London. 0-565-00989-3. The mines and mining. 58 .
4. http://www.mindat.org/loc-880.html Hingston Down Quarry, Gunnislake Area, Callington District, Cornwall, England, UK
5. Web site: Hingston Down Quarry & Consols. Natural England. 1 November 2011. 1995. 24 October 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20121024220150/http://www.sssi.naturalengland.org.uk/citation/citation_photo/2000098.pdf. dead.