Burton Dassett Hills Country Park is a country park in southeastern

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Av ...

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 ...

. It was created as a country park in 1971 and is run by

Warwickshire County Council Warwickshire County Council is the county council that governs the non-metropolitan county of Warwickshire in England. Its headquarters are located at Shire Hall, Market Square, in centre of the county town of Warwick. Politically the county is ...

. The area comprises a group of

ironstone Ironstone is a sedimentary rock, either deposited directly as a ferruginous sediment or created by chemical replacement, that contains a substantial proportion of an iron ore compound from which iron (Fe) can be smelted commercially. Not to be con ...

hills, which are named after the village of

Burton Dassett Burton Dassett is a parish and shrunken medieval village in the Stratford-upon-Avon district of Warwickshire, England. The population (including the village of Knightcote) of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 1,322. Much of the area is ...

which is located in the hills. The hills rise to 211 m (692 ft) above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardise ...

and are situated half a mile east of the M40 motorway. The area was once extensively quarried for ironstone and a short

industrial railway An industrial railway is a type of railway (usually private) that is not available for public transportation and is used exclusively to serve a particular industrial, logistics, or military site. In regions of the world influenced by British ra ...

– Edge Hill Light Railway – existed for this purpose until the 1920s. Of interest at the site is a 12th-century

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

at the old village of Burton Dassett. Outside the church is a

holy well A holy well or sacred spring is a well, spring or small pool of water revered either in a Christian or pagan context, sometimes both. The water of holy wells is often thought to have healing qualities, through the numinous presence of its guar ...

which still provides water. The park is also popular with flyers of

kites A kite is a tethered heavier-than-air or lighter-than-air craft with wing surfaces that react against the air to create lift and drag forces. A kite consists of wings, tethers and anchors. Kites often have a bridle and tail to guide the face ...

and radio-controlled gliders. Impressive views across the surrounding countryside can be seen from the hills; towns and other features that are viewable are described by a

toposcope A toposcope, topograph, or orientation table is a kind of graphic display erected at viewing points on hills, mountains or other high places which indicates the direction, and usually the distance, to notable landscape features which can be seen ...

. On a clear day, places as far afield as

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a city in the West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its city status until the Middle Ages. The city is governed b ...

(more than 20 miles away) can be seen. The park and the church were used as a location in the

Tom Selleck Thomas William Selleck (; born January 29, 1945) is an American actor. His breakout role was playing private investigator Thomas Magnum in the television series '' Magnum, P.I.'' (1980–1988), for which he received five Emmy Award nominations ...

1990 film ''

Three Men and a Little Lady ''Three Men and a Little Lady'' is a 1990 American comedy film directed by Emile Ardolino. It is the sequel to the 1987 film '' Three Men and a Baby''. Tom Selleck, Steve Guttenberg, and Ted Danson reprise the leading roles. Plot Peter, Michael ...

''.

References

External links

{{coord, 52, 09, 51.93, N, 1, 25, 17.31, W, display=title
Warwickshire County Council site on Burton Dassett Hills Country ParkGuide from BBC CoventryPhotos of Burton Dassett Hills and surrounding area on geographGeology of the Burton Dassetts Hills, Warwickshire's Jurassic Park, from Warwickshire Geological Conservation Group (WGCG)
Hills of Warwickshire Country parks in Warwickshire Holy wells in England Mountains and hills of the United Kingdom with toposcopes Stratford-on-Avon District 1975 establishments in England