List of hills of Dorset explained

This is a list of hills in Dorset. Many of these hills are important historical, archaeological and nature conservation sites, as well as popular hiking and tourist destinations in the county of Dorset in southern England.

Colour key

Class	Prominence
Marilyns	150 – 599 m
HuMPs	100 – 149 m
TuMPs	30 – 99 m
Unclassified	0 – 29 m

The table is colour-coded based on the classification or "listing" of the hill. The two types that occur in Dorset are Marilyns, HuMPs and TuMPs, listings based on topographical prominence. "Prominence" correlates strongly with the subjective significance of a summit. Peaks with low prominences are either subsidiary tops of a higher summit or relatively insignificant independent summits. Peaks with high prominences tend to be the highest points around and likely to have extraordinary views. A Marilyn is a hill with a prominence of at least 150 metres or about 500 feet.^[1] A "HuMP" (the acronym comes from "Hundred Metre Prominence) is a hill with a prominence of at least 100 but less than 150 metres.^[2] In this table Marilyns are in beige and HuMPs in lilac. The term "sub-Marilyn" or "sub-HuMP" is used, e.g. in the online Database of British and Irish Hills to indicate hills that fall just below the threshold. To qualify for inclusion, hills must either be 200 metres or higher with a prominence of at least 30 metres, below 200 metres with a prominence of at least 90 metres (the threshold for a sub-HuMP) or be in some other way notable. For further information see the Lists of mountains and hills in the British Isles and the individual articles on Marilyns, HuMPs and TuMPs. By way of contrast, see also the article listing Tumps (a traditional term meaning a hillock, mound, barrow or tumulus).

The county top (i.e. highest point) of Poole unitary authority is not strictly in the county of Dorset, but is included for interest because it falls within Dorset's historic county boundary.

List of hills

Hill	Height (m)	Prom. (m)	Grid ref.	Class	Parent	Range/Region	Remarks	Image
Lewesdon Hill^[3]	279	185		Marilyn	Staple Hill, Somerset	Marshwood & Powerstock Vales	Dorset's county top. One of Dorset's 4 Marilyns. Iron Age hill fort.
Pilsdon Pen^[4]	277	83		TuMP	Lewesdon Hill	Marshwood & Powerstock Vales	Dorset's second highest summit. For many years thought to be Dorset's highest point. Iron Age hill fort.
Bulbarrow Hill	274	141		HuMP, sub-Marilyn	Lewesdon Hill	Dorset Downs	Rawlsbury Camp, Iron Age hill fort. Paragliding site.
Telegraph Hill	267	121		HuMP	Lewesdon Hill	Dorset Downs	Paragliding site.
Melbury Hill^[5] (Melbury Beacon)	263	66		TuMP	Win Green^[6]	Cranborne Chase	Near Melbury Abbas. Trig point on summit National Trust wood on western flank above A 350.
Breeze Hill^[7]	262	20		Unclassified	Win Green	Cranborne Chase^[8]	Striking ridgeline above Zig Zag Hill near Melbury Abbas with sweeping views over Blackmore Vale W (Dorset) end of Win Green ridge
Lyscombe Hill	262	100		HuMP	Telegraph Hill	Dorset Downs	Hill fort on Nettlecombe Tout (N spur)
Watts Hill	262	69		TuMP	Lewesdon Hill	Dorset Downs	Just above Minterne Parva and E of the A352 Dorchester to Middlemarsh road
Lambert's Castle Hill	258	121		HuMP	Lewesdon Hill	Blackdowns	Site of Lambert's Castle - Iron Age hill fort
Bell Hill^[9]	258	50	^[10]	TuMP	Lewesdon Hill	Dorset Downs	Nr Turnworth, 5 miles W of Blandford Forum. Paragliding site.
Eggardon Hill	252	117		HuMP	Telegraph Hill	Marshwood & Powerstock Vales	Western extremity of the South Dorset Downs. Hill fort Paragliding site
Toller Down	252	96		TuMP, sub-HuMP	Lewesdon Hill	Dorset Downs	Just SW of A356 near Corscombe
Ball Hill	251	74		TuMP	Lewesdon Hill	Dorset Downs	Above Folly (paragliding site), 9 miles N of Dorchester.
Dogbury Hill	248	13		Unclassified	Watts Hill	Blackmore Vale	Hill fort site nr Minterne Magna on the A 352 NW spur of Watts Hill.
Black Down	242	78		TuMP	Lewesdon Hill	South Dorset Downs	Site of the Hardy Monument. 2 km NE of Portesham.
West Hill	224	63		TuMP	Lewesdon Hill	Dorset Downs	SW of Evershot, near the A 37
Coney's Castle	222	17		Unclassified	Lambert's Castle Hill	Blackdowns	Iron Age hill fort at (ca. 210 m or 205 m)
Drackenorth^[11]	221	60		TuMP	Lewesdon Hill	Dorset Downs	3 km NNE of Powerstock on the Jubilee Trail
Rampisham Down	219	8		Unclassified	Toller Down	Dorset Downs	By A 356, about 12 km NW of Dorchester. SE extension of Toller Down ridge. Former transmission site for BBC World Service.
Bubb Down Hill	217	40		TuMP	Lewesdon Hill	Dorset Downs	Just E of A 37, about 10 km S of Yeovil
Abbotsbury Castle	215	20	^[12]	Unclassified	Black Down	South Dorset Downs	Iron Age hill fort site. Trig point at summit. Part of Black Down ridge.
Warren Hill	215	51		TuMP	Lewesdon Hill	Dorset Downs	Location of Hooke Park
Blackdown Hill	215	34		TuMP	Lewesdon Hill	Blackdown Hills	8 km SW of Crewkerne, just NW of Pilsdon Pen
Conegar Hill	214	47		TuMP	Lewesdon Hill	Yeovil Scarplands	500 m N of Broadwindsor
Waddon Hill	213	35		TuMP	Lewesdon Hill	Marshwood & Powerstock Vales	Site of old Roman fort (Waddon Hill Fort, 207 m) near Beaminster.
Payne's Down	211	62		TuMP	Lewesdon Hill	Marshwood & Powerstock Vales	10 km ENE of Axminster
Bookham Knoll	211	43		TuMP	Lewesdon Hill	Dorset Downs	1 km SE of Buckland Newton
Duncliffe Hill	210	96		TuMP, sub-HuMP	Win Green	Blackmore Vale	Iron Age hill fort site.
Swyre Head	208	150		sub-Marilyn, HuMP, TuMP, Clem	Lewesdon Hill	Purbeck Hills	On Dorset coast E of Durdle Door. Tumulus on summit. Paragliding site.
Hardown Hill	207	154		Marilyn	Lewesdon Hill	Marshwood & Powerstock Vales	One of Dorset's 4 Marilyns.
Seaborough Hill	204	80		TuMP	Lewesdon Hill	Yeovil Scarplands	2 km SW of Crewkerne on the Somerset-Dorset border
Nine Barrow Down	199	152		Marilyn	Lewesdon Hill	Purbeck Hills	One of Dorset's 4 Marilyns. Views of Poole Harbour.
Ridgeway Hill	199	107		HuMP	Swyre Head	Purbeck Hills
Chardown Hill	194	68		TuMP	Hardown Hill	South Dorset Downs	Dorset coast, E of Charmouth. Stonebarrow Hill is its SW spur.
Creech Barrow Hill^[13]	193	38		TuMP	Swyre Head	Dorset Heaths	One of Dorset's most distinctive landmarks. Highest point of the Heaths. Largest Tertiary hill in England.^[14] Site of round barrow.^[15]
Hambledon Hill	192	131		HuMP	Win Green	Cranborne Chase	Prehistoric hill fort site. Tumulus on summit.
Golden Cap	191	63		TuMP	Hardown Hill	South Dorset Downs	Highest point on the south coast of England.
Chaldon Hill	178	90	(est.)	sub-HuMP	Lewesdon Hill	South Dorset Downs	Dorset coast, W of Swyre Head and Lulworth Cove. Tumulus at summit.
Bindon Hill	168	94		TuMP, sub-HuMP	Lewesdon Hill	South Dorset Downs	Dorset coast, immediately E of Lulworth Cove
The Verne	147	140		HuMP	Lewesdon Hill	Isle of Portland	Summit occupied by HM Prison, Verne
Maiden Castle	134	39		TuMP	Lewesdon Hill	South Dorset Downs	Largest hill fort in Britain south west of Dorchester.
Hambury Tout	134	35		TuMP	Lewesdon Hill	South Dorset Downs	Dorset coast, immediately W of Lulworth Cove. Most popular route to Durdle Door. Trig point at summit; tumuli nearby. OS Landranger map gives ht as "134 (138)" metres.
Colmer's Hill	127	35		TuMP	Hardown Hill	Marshwood Vale	The local hill of Symondsbury. Obvious summit.
Corfe Hills	78	2		None	Lewesdon Hill	Dorset Heaths	Poole's county top, i.e. highest point in Poole unitary authority.

Footnotes:

1. Ferranti's Summit Listings by Relative Height does not list Ridgeway Hill but suggests that the highest point of this stretch of the Purbecks is Povington Hill (198 m, drop 107 m). However, the current Ordnance Survey Landranger map (No. 194) agrees with Jackson (2009), which gives Ridgeway Hill as the highest point in the area at 199 m (drop 107 m).

2. The following summits listed by the North Dorset Ramblers have been omitted from the table as they are considered sub-peaks or alternative names of hills in the main list:

• Gore Hill (265 m), Dorset Downs, SW spur of Telegraph Hill
• Higher Melcombe Hill (262 m), Dorset Downs, possibly alternative name for Lyscombe Hill
• High Stoy (260 m) - Dorset Downs, NE spur of Telegraph Hill
• Nettlecombe Tout (258 m) - N spur of Lyscombe Hill with a hill fort.
• Weston Hill (250 m, (est.)^[5]), NW extension of Toller Down ridge on A356
  • Beaminster Down (244 m, ^[5]), flanks of the Toller Down ridge, NE of Beaminster Ayles Hill^{[16] [17]} (240 m, (est.)^[5]), outlier of Telegraph Hill by A 37. Celtic field system.^[18] Spelt "Ayles's Hill" on OS Landranger map.
• White Way Earthwork^{[17] [5]} (218 m, ^[5]), N of A 35 X with 2 minor roads, nr Litton Cheney, 18 km W of Dorchester, S spur of Eggardon Hill.
• Stonebarrow Hill, SW spur of Chardown Hill.

See also

• List of mountains and hills of the United Kingdom
• List of Marilyns in England
• Geography of Dorset

Notes and References

1. Book: Dawson, Alan . 1992 . The Relative Hills of Britain . Cicerone Press . Milnthorpe . 1-85284-068-4 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20100921045806/http://bubl.ac.uk/org/tacit/marilyns/ . 2010-09-21 .
2. Web site: Jackson . Mark . More Relative Hills of Britain . Relative Hills of Britain . 31 March 2013 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20131012150300/http://www.rhb.org.uk/humps/humps_1_1_0c.pdf . 12 October 2013 .
3. Name, height, prominence, grid, class and parent data from: Jackson, Mark (2009). More Relative Hills of Britain, Marilyn News Centre, UK, p. 168. E-book .
4. Name, height, prominence, grid and class data from Database of British and Irish Hills - Dorset. Accessed on 23 Mar 2013.
5. [Ordnance Survey]
6. Parent peak from Summit Listings by Relative Height by Jonathan de Ferranti. Accessed on 25 Mar 2013.
7. Prominence estimated from Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 Landranger series
8. http://www.dorsetlife.co.uk/2009/12/the-face-of-dorset-cranborne-chase/ The face of Dorset — Cranborne Chase
9. Prominence from Summit Listings by Relative Height by Jonathan de Ferranti. Accessed on 25 Mar 2013.
10. Grid reference from Summit Listings by Relative Height by Jonathan de Ferranti. Accessed on 25 Mar 2013.
11. Ordnance Survey Open Street Map
12. http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=4654 Abbotsbury Castle
13. http://www.dorsetlife.co.uk/2009/02/the-purbeck-volcano/ The Purbeck Volcano
14. https://web.archive.org/web/20090206124020/http://www.naturalareas.naturalengland.org.uk/Science/natural/profiles/naProfile81.pdf Dorset Heaths - Natural Area Profile
15. http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/site/10982/creech_barrow.html Creech Barrow
16. Name and grid from geodata.us
17. Name and height from Going High in Dorset. Accessed on 23 Mar 2013.
18. http://www.sydlingstnicholas.org.uk/wordpress/history/ Sidling Saint Nicholas