Brea Hill ( kw, Bre, meaning ''hill''), pronounced "Bray Hill" is a round hill beside the River Camel estuary in north

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlan ...

, England,

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 200 ''Newquay & Bodmin'' The hill is highOrdnance Survey: Explorer map (scale 1:25000); Sheet 106 ''Newquay & Padstow'' and there are

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 pri ...

tumuli 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 b ...

(burial mounds) at the summit. The underlying geology in this area of Cornwall is

Devonian The Devonian ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic era, spanning 60.3 million years from the end of the Silurian, million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Carboniferous, Mya. It is named after Devon, England, w ...

slates. Brea Hill is situated at the south end of

Daymer Bay Daymer Bay is a bay and a beach on the east side of the River Camel estuary in north Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated approximately six miles (10 km) north of Wadebridge.Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 200 ''Newqua ...

between the settlements of

Trebetherick Trebetherick ( kw, Trebedrek) is a village on the north coast of Cornwall. It is situated on the east side of the River Camel estuary approximately six miles (10 km) north of Wadebridge and half a mile (800 metres) south of Polzeath.Ord ...

and Rock in the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of Parish (administrative division), administrative parish used for Local government in England, local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below district ...

of St Minver Lowlands. Cornwall Council online mapping. Retrieved June 2010 approximately five miles northwest of

Wadebridge Wadebridge (; kw, Ponswad) is a town and civil parish in north Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland ...

On the west side, Brea Hill rises straight from the foreshore; on the north and south it rises from low sand dunes. To the east, the dunes give way to a golf course and grassland with

St Enodoc's Church St. Enodoc Church, Trebetherick (Old kw, Gwenedek, ''St. Guenedoc'') is a chapel in the parish of St Minver. It is located to the south of the village of Trebetherick, Cornwall, England, United Kingdom (). It is a Grade I listed building. Backgr ...

(where the poet

Sir John Betjeman Sir John Betjeman (; 28 August 190619 May 1984) was an English poet, writer, and broadcaster. He was Poet Laureate from 1972 until his death. He was a founding member of The Victorian Society and a passionate defender of Victorian architectu ...

is buried) just below the hill. The

South West Coast Path The South West Coast Path is England's longest waymarked long-distance footpath and a National Trail. It stretches for , running from Minehead in Somerset, along the coasts of Devon and Cornwall, to Poole Harbour in Dorset. Because it rises ...

follows the west flank of the hill with an alternative route passing to the east. Brea Hill is grassed and treeless (except for a small wooded area low on the south flank) with rough footpaths leading to the summit and burial mounds. Trebetherick website. Retrieved June 2010

Literary associations

Brea Hill features in the

John Betjeman Sir John Betjeman (; 28 August 190619 May 1984) was an English poet, writer, and broadcaster. He was Poet Laureate from 1972 until his death. He was a founding member of The Victorian Society and a passionate defender of Victorian architectu ...

poem 'Back from Australia', where Betjeman uses the alternative spelling Bray Hill (Stepper is

Stepper Point Stepper Point ( kw, Penn Stuppert) is a headland on the Atlantic coast in north Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is at . Stepper Point and Pentire Point stand at either side of the mouth of the River Camel; Stepper to the south-west, Penti ...

At home in Cornwall hurrying autumn skies
Leave Bray Hill barren, Stepper jutting bare,
And hold the moon above the sea-wet sand.
The very last of late September dies
In frosty silence and the hills declare
How vast the sky is, looked at from the land.

References

Hills of Cornwall Geology of Cornwall Cornish Killas {{Cornwall-geo-stub