Bredon Hill is a hill in

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see H ...

, England, south-west of

Evesham Evesham () is a market town and parish in the Wychavon district of Worcestershire, in the West Midlands region of England. It is located roughly equidistant between Worcester, Cheltenham and Stratford-upon-Avon. It lies within the Vale of Eves ...

in the Vale of Evesham. The summit of the hill is in the parish of

Kemerton Kemerton is a village and civil parish in Worcestershire in England. It lies at the extreme south of the county in the local government district of Wychavon. Until boundary changes in 1931, it formed part of neighbouring Gloucestershire, and ...

, and it extends over parts of eight other parishes (listed below). The hill is geologically part of the

Cotswolds The Cotswolds (, ) is a region in central-southwest England, along a range of rolling hills that rise from the meadows of the upper Thames to an escarpment above the Severn Valley and Evesham Vale. The area is defined by the bedrock of J ...

and lies within the Cotswolds

Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB; , AHNE) is an area of countryside in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, that has been designated for conservation due to its significant landscape value. Areas are designated in recognition of ...

. However, it now stands isolated in the Vale of Evesham due to natural causes. Bredon Hill Digital Terrain Model

At the summit, adjacent to ''Kemerton Camp'', is a small stone tower called ''Parsons Folly'' (known locally as 'the Tower up the Way') which stands at GPS coordinates (52.059963, -2.064606). The tower was built in the mid-18th century for John Parsons, MP (1732–1805), squire of

Kemerton Court Kemerton Court is the principal manor house of the village of Kemerton, near Tewkesbury in Gloucestershire. The house is built of local Cotswold stone, dating from the late 16th century onwards. In the early 18th century a 9-bay baroque façade ...

and intended as a summer house, from which a more extensive view of the surrounding countryside could be seen. The natural height of the hill contributes to the final height of the tower, whose top now reaches . A similar tower on

Leith Hill Leith Hill in southern England is the highest summit of the Greensand Ridge, approximately southwest of Dorking, Surrey and southwest of central London. It reaches above sea level, and is the second highest point in southeast England, after ...

increases the overall height from . The folly (tower) became a well-known county landmark, and was believed to have inspired the building of

Broadway Tower Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

. The current owners, Overbury Estate, lease out the tower as a

mobile phone A mobile phone, cellular phone, cell phone, cellphone, handphone, hand phone or pocket phone, sometimes shortened to simply mobile, cell, or just phone, is a portable telephone that can make and receive calls over a radio frequency link whi ...

base station, and a number of large aerials have been fitted to its exterior.

History

At the summit of the hill, there are the remains of earthworks from an

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly ...

hill fort A hillfort is a type of earthwork used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze Age or Iron Age. Some were used in the post-Roma ...

known as ''Kemerton Camp'', which is believed to have been abandoned in the 1st century A.D. after a considerable battle. There are also

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...

earthworks and a number of ancient standing stones on the hill. One large stone at the summit is called the ''Banbury Stone'', deriving from 'Baenintesburg', a name for the fort in the 8th century. It is known colloquially as the 'Elephant Stone' because of its resemblance to that animal. Another pair of stones below the summit are known as the ''King and Queen Stones''. Local legend tells that if you pass between them you will be cured of illness. At Elmley Castle, on the north side of the hill, there are the remains of a considerable

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

, once the chief stronghold of the powerful Beauchamp family, who became

Earls of Warwick Earl of Warwick is one of the most prestigious titles in the peerages of the United Kingdom. The title has been created four times in English history, and the name refers to Warwick Castle and the town of Warwick. Overview The first creation c ...

. The castle fell into disrepair during the 16th century, and stone from it was used in the construction of the bridge at

Pershore Pershore is a market town in the Wychavon district in Worcestershire, England, on the banks of the River Avon. The town is part of the West Worcestershire parliamentary constituency. At the 2011 census, the population was 7,125. The town is ...

. During the

English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I (" Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of r ...

Bredon Hill was the site of a gathering of

Clubmen Clubmen were bands of local defence vigilantes during the English Civil War (1642–1651) who tried to protect their localities against the excesses of the armies of both sides in the war. They sought to join together to prevent their wives and d ...

on November 11th 1645, after which they declared their support for

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

. A fair and summer games were held every

Whitsun Whitsun (also Whitsunday or Whit Sunday) is the name used in Britain, and other countries among Anglicans and Methodists, for the Christian High Holy Day of Pentecost. It is the seventh Sunday after Easter, which commemorates the descent of the ...

at the summit of Bredon Hill until c.1876. On 17 October 2011 Worcestershire County Council announced that Worcestershire's largest-ever

hoard A hoard or "wealth deposit" is an archaeological term for a collection of valuable objects or artifacts, sometimes purposely buried in the ground, in which case it is sometimes also known as a cache. This would usually be with the intention of ...

of Roman artefacts, including around 4,000 coins, featuring 16 different emperors, had been uncovered.

Nature and geography

Bredon Hill is one of the most important wildlife sites in England, providing a range of habitats including

ancient woodland In the United Kingdom, an ancient woodland is a woodland that has existed continuously since 1600 or before in England, Wales and Northern Ireland (or 1750 in Scotland). Planting of woodland was uncommon before those dates, so a wood present in 16 ...

calcareous grassland Calcareous grassland (or alkaline grassland) is an ecosystem associated with thin basic soil, such as that on chalk and limestone downland. Plants on calcareous grassland are typically short and hardy, and include grasses and herbs such as clover. ...

and scrub. A large section of the western and northern scarp was designated a

Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle ...

(SSSI) in 1955.Natural England information on citation, map and unit details for Bredon Hill SSSI
/ref> Since 2005, an overlapping area has also been designated as a

Special Area of Conservation A Special Area of Conservation (SAC) is defined in the European Union's Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC), also known as the ''Directive on the Conservation of Natural Habitats and of Wild Fauna and Flora''. They are to protect the 220 habitats and a ...

(SAC) under the European Commission

Habitats Directive The Habitats Directive (more formally known as Council Directive 92/43/EEC on the Conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora) is a directive adopted by the European Community in 1992 as a response to the Berne Convention. The E ...

. Part of the SAC is a National Nature Reserve. Bredon Hill is most important as habitat for rare

invertebrates Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chordat ...

, such as the violet click beetle.

Natural England Natural England is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. It is responsible for ensuring that England's natural environment, including its land, flora and fauna, ...

and

Kemerton Conservation Trust Kemerton Conservation Trust is a registered charity which aims ''"to conserve wildlife and places of beauty in Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Worcestershire and adjoining counties for the public benefit."'' Much of the Trust’s activity takes pla ...

are among those organisations participating in wildlife management on the hill. Several parts of the hill are managed for wildlife under DEFRA 'Environmental Stewardship' schemes. This includes the area around the summit, which is managed as grassland with open public access. A large number of public footpaths and

bridleway A bridle path, also bridleway, equestrian trail, horse riding path, ride, bridle road, or horse trail, is a trail or a thoroughfare that is used by people riding horses, riding on horses. Trails originally created for use by horses often now s ...

s cross the hill from the villages circling its base, and allow for a variety of circular routes to be devised. The

Wychavon Way The Wychavon Way is a waymarked long-distance footpath in Worcestershire, England, maintained by a partnership between Wychavon District Council and Worcestershire County Council. Distance The Wychavon Way is in length. The route The route ...

passes over the hill, but does not reach the summit itself, passing close by (necessitating a short easy detour). The

Ordnance Survey Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see ordnance and surveying), which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of 1745. There was a ...

1:50,000 for some years showed the top as ". This was perhaps a typographical error as is obvious from the contours; the 1:25,000 map shows the

spot height A spot height is an exact point on a map with an elevation recorded beside it that represents its height above a given datum.Whittow, John (1984). ''Dictionary of Physical Geography''. London: Penguin, 1984, p. 506. . In the UK this is the Ordna ...

as .

Literature and the arts

Bredon Hill features in the works of a multitude of composers, poets, writers and artists. This pantheon includes the composers

Ralph Vaughan Williams Ralph Vaughan Williams, (; 12 October 1872– 26 August 1958) was an English composer. His works include operas, ballets, chamber music, secular and religious vocal pieces and orchestral compositions including nine symphonies, written over ...

, Sir Arthur Somervell,

Ivor Gurney Ivor Bertie Gurney (28 August 1890 – 26 December 1937) was an English poet and composer, particularly of songs. He was born and raised in Gloucester. He suffered from bipolar disorder through much of his life and spent his last 15 years in ps ...

George Butterworth George Sainton Kaye Butterworth, MC (12 July 18855 August 1916) was an English composer who was best known for the orchestral idyll '' The Banks of Green Willow'' and his song settings of A. E. Housman's poems from ''A Shropshire Lad''. Early y ...

Herbert Howells Herbert Norman Howells (17 October 1892 – 23 February 1983) was an English composer, organist, and teacher, most famous for his large output of Anglican church music. Life Background and early education Howells was born in Lydney, Gloucest ...

and

Julius Harrison Julius Allan Greenway Harrison (26 March 1885 – 5 April 1963) was an English composer and conductor who was particularly known for his interpretation of operatic works. Born in Lower Mitton, Stourport in Worcestershire, by the age of 16 ...

; the poets

A. E. Housman Alfred Edward Housman (; 26 March 1859 – 30 April 1936) was an English classical scholar and poet. After an initially poor performance while at university, he took employment as a clerk in London and established his academic reputation by pub ...

John Masefield John Edward Masefield (; 1 June 1878 – 12 May 1967) was an English poet and writer, and Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, Poet Laureate from 1930 until 1967. Among his best known works are the children's novels ''The Midnight Folk'' and ...

, Cecil Day-Lewis, John Drinkwater and U. A. Fanthorpe; the authors E. V. Lucas,

Arthur Quiller-Couch Sir Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch (; 21 November 186312 May 1944) was a British writer who published using the pseudonym Q. Although a prolific novelist, he is remembered mainly for the monumental publication '' The Oxford Book of English Verse ...

William Cobbett William Cobbett (9 March 1763 – 18 June 1835) was an English pamphleteer, journalist, politician, and farmer born in Farnham, Surrey. He was one of an agrarian faction seeking to reform Parliament, abolish "rotten boroughs", restrain foreign ...

, E. Temple Thurston,

Francis Brett Young Francis Brett Young (29 June 1884 – 28 March 1954) was an English novelist, poet, playwright, composer, doctor and soldier. Life Francis Brett Young was born in Halesowen, Worcestershire. He received his early education at Iona, a pri ...

Hesketh Hesketh-Prichard Major Hesketh Vernon Prichard, later Hesketh-Prichard (17 November 1876 – 14 June 1922) was an explorer, adventurer, writer, big-game hunter, marksman and cricketer who made a significant contribution to sniping practice within the British A ...

, John Moore,

Fred Archer Fred or Frederick Archer may refer to: * Fred Archer (jockey) (1857–1886), English jockey * Fred R. Archer (1889–1963), photographer and co-inventor of the photographic Zone System * Frederick Scott Archer (1813–1857), inventor of the photogr ...

and Jenny Glanfield; and the artists

Peter de Wint Peter De Wint (21 January 1784 – 30 January 1849) was an English landscape painter. A number of his pictures are in the National Gallery, the Victoria and Albert Museum and The Collection, Lincoln. He died in London. Biography De Wint wa ...

, Alfred William Parsons,

Benjamin Williams Leader Benjamin Williams Leader (12 March 1831 – 22 March 1923) was an English landscape painter. Life and work Early years and training Leader was born in Worcester as Benjamin Leader Williams, the son, and third child of eleven children, of ...

, Frederick Whitehead, Josiah Wood Whymper,

Alfred Egerton Cooper Alfred Ernest Egerton Cooper (5 July 1883 – 11 May 1974), RBA, ARCA, was a British painter of portraits, landscapes and other figurative work. In the era of Modernism, he continued to work in traditional style from his studio in Chelsea, L ...

, A. R. Quinton, Henry Yeend King and Anna Hornby. The hill is immortalised in poem 21 of

's 1896 anthology, '' A Shropshire Lad''. :''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.'' Bredon Hill is the birthplace of farmer and writer

(1915–1999), whose many books describe, in vivid prose, life on the farms and in the villages, particularly during the first part of the 20th century. The author John Moore described life on and around Bredon Hill in the early 20th century in the ''Brensham Trilogy''.

's 1941 composition for violin and orchestra, ''Bredon Hill'', takes its name from the hill which he could see from his home. The children's author Ursula Moray Williams lived on the hill in Beckford from 1945 until her death in 2006.

Contemporary arts and crafts

There is a lively local arts scene around the hill such as the Bredon Hill Open Studios group of artists, designers and craftspeople who open up their studios to the public. This group includes the artist Samantha Dadd, Conderton Pottery and Beckford Silk-printing workshop. Contemporary artists painting the local area include Nick Holdsworth and Tony Whitehouse.

Incidental information

When

Worcester Cathedral Worcester Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in Worcester, in Worcestershire, England, situated on a bank overlooking the River Severn. It is the seat of the Bishop of Worcester. Its official name is the Cathedral Church of Christ and the Bles ...

was damaged in the

English civil war The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...

, it was repaired with stone brought from Bredon. The name "Bredon Hill" is unusual in that it combines the name for "

hill A hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain. It often has a distinct summit. Terminology The distinction between a hill and a mountain is unclear and largely subjective, but a hill is universally considered to be not a ...

" in three different languages (compare

Pendle Hill Pendle Hill is in the east of Lancashire, England, near the towns of Burnley, Nelson, Colne, Brierfield, Clitheroe and Padiham. Its summit is above mean sea level. It gives its name to the Borough of Pendle. It is an isolated hill in the P ...

). The word "bre" is of Celtic origin, and "don" is an

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th c ...

usage. A well-known local saying, which predicts bad weather, goes: "When Bredon Hill has on his hat, men of the vale beware of that".

Villages

The hill is made up from land belonging to 9 parishes. Working clockwise from the summit these are: *

* Bredon & Bredon's Norton * Eckington * Great Comberton * Little Comberton * Elmley Castle, Bricklehampton & Netherton *

Ashton under Hill Ashton under Hill is a village and civil parish in the Wychavon district of Worcestershire in England. It is situated at the foot of Bredon Hill. According to the 2001 census the parish had a population of 743, about six miles south-west of Ev ...

* Beckford * Overbury & Conderton Site of Bredon Station - geograph

References

Sources: * Page, W. ed. (1913). ''Victoria County History: A History of the County of Worcester'', Volume III. *Elrington, C.R. ed. (1968). ''Victoria County History: A History of the County of Gloucester'', Volume VIII.

External links

Ashton-Under-Hill Community Site

Overbury Community Site

Beckford Community Site

Kemerton Conservation Trust

Fred Archer website

photos of Bredon Hill on geograph

"Bredon Hill" Rhapsody for Violin & Orchestra by Julius Harrison
{{Authority control Marilyns of England Hills of Worcestershire Bredon Hill (Kemerton Camp) Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Worcestershire Special Areas of Conservation in England