Watts Hill is a hill in the

Dorset Downs The Dorset Downs are an area of chalk downland in the centre of the county Dorset in south west England. The downs are the most western part of a larger chalk formation which also includes (from west to east) Cranborne Chase, Salisbury Plain, Ham ...

and one of the highest in the county of

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...

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 ...

. The height of the summit is variously recorded as 261 metres

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1:50,000 Landranger series, No. 194 or 262 metres.

Location

Watts Hill lies about 1½ miles north of

Cerne Abbas Cerne Abbas () is a village and civil parish in the county of Dorset in southern England. It lies in the Dorset Council administrative area in the Cerne Valley in the Dorset Downs. The village lies just east of the A352 road north of Dorchest ...

above the village of Minterne Parva, and about 12 kilometres north of Dorchester, the county town. It is the highest point on a north-south ridge, on the southern spur of which is the

Cerne Abbas Giant The Cerne Abbas Giant is a hill figure near the village of Cerne Abbas in Dorset, England. high, it depicts a standing nude male with a prominent erection and wielding a large club in its right hand. Like many other hill figures it is outli ...

, an old landmark whose origin is unclear. A mile to the northwest is Dogbury Hill and, on the far side of the A352 is

Telegraph Hill A telegraph hill is a hill or other natural elevation that is chosen as part of an optical telegraph system. Telegraph Hill may also refer to: England * A high point in the Haldon Hills, Devon * Telegraph Hill, Dorset, a hill in the Dorset Down ...

and High Stoy, a popular filming location.

History

There is much evidence of prehistoric settlement in the area. Near the Giant there are the remains of an ancient settlement, a

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 buil ...

and an earthwork on the southern spur near Cerne Abbas, and similar features further north near Dogbury.

References

{{Reflist Hills of Dorset