Haddon Hill is a prominent east–west aligned ridge in west

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, close to Hartford within the civil parish of

Brompton Regis Brompton Regis (formerly known as Kingsbrompton) is a village and civil parish in the Somerset West and Taunton district of Somerset, England about north-east of Dulverton. It is situated on the River Pulham in the Brendon Hills within the Exmoo ...

. It lies on the south-eastern fringe of

Exmoor National Park Exmoor is loosely defined as an area of hilly open moorland in west Somerset and north Devon in South West England. It is named after the River Exe, the source of which is situated in the centre of the area, two miles north-west of Simonsbath. ...

though is separated from the

Exmoor Exmoor is loosely defined as an area of hilly open moorland in west Somerset and north Devon in South West England. It is named after the River Exe, the source of which is situated in the centre of the area, two miles north-west of Simonsbath ...

massif itself by the valleys of the rivers Haddeo and

Exe Exe or EXE may refer to: * .exe, a file extension * exe., abbreviation for executive Places * River Exe, in England * Exe Estuary, in England * Exe Island, in Exeter, England Transportation and vehicles * Exe (locomotive), a British locomotive ...

The highest point of the ridge at OS grid reference SS 962286 is crowned by a

trig point A triangulation station, also known as a trigonometrical point, and sometimes informally as a trig, is a fixed surveying station, used in geodetic surveying and other surveying projects in its vicinity. The nomenclature varies regionally: they a ...

at above sea level. Much of the upper part of the hill is mapped as open access under the

Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 The Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 (c. 37), known informally as the CRoW Act or "Right to Roam" Act is a United Kingdom Act of Parliament affecting England and Wales which came into force on 30 November 2000. Right to roam The Act imp ...

and hence available for public access on foot. A couple of public footpaths traverse the hill north–south whilst numerous tracks run along its length. The larger part of the hill is within the national park, the boundary of which runs along the B3190 road which runs diagonally across the eastern end of the ridge en route from

Watchet Watchet is a harbour town, civil parish and electoral ward in the county of Somerset, England, with a population in 2011 of 3,785. It is situated west of Bridgwater, north-west of Taunton, and east of Minehead. The town lies at the mouth of ...

to Bampton. Vehicular access is available off this road. The hill affords views across Wimbleball Reservoir which occupies the Haddeo valley immediately to its north. Along with its eastern neighbour, Heydon Hill, Haddon Hill is largely formed from the Pickwell Down Sandstones, a thick sequence of Devonian age sedimentary rocks. The stone has been quarried in the past. A

tree ring Dendrochronology (or tree-ring dating) is the scientific method of dating tree rings (also called growth rings) to the exact year they were formed. As well as dating them, this can give data for dendroclimatology, the study of climate and atmos ...

, surrounded by a bank and ditch, on the hill was previously thought to be a

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second prin ...

tumulus A tumulus (plural tumuli) is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds or ''kurgans'', and may be found throughout much of the world. A cairn, which is a mound of stones bu ...

although this is no longer the case. There is a Bronze Age cairn which is in diameter. Several Roman coins have been found at Hadborough at the western end of Haddon Hill. During World War II a military camp was built on the hill with several buildings to accommodate soldiers from the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

during the buildup to the

Normandy landings The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and ...

in 1944.

References

External links

{{Somerset Hills of Somerset Exmoor