Wills Neck
| Wills Neck | |||
 Trig point on the Will's Neck summit | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Range: | Quantock Hills | ||
| Summit: | 1,261 feet ST165352 51°6’36"N, 3°11’37"W | ||
Wills Neck is the highest summit on the Quantock Hills and one of the highest points in Somerset (in which it is exceeded by Dunkery Beacon on Exmoor at 1,705 feet).
Although the summit is only 1,261 feet above sea level, the hill qualifies as a 'Marilyn'.
Will's Neck stands about eight miles north-west of the historic market town of Taunton.
The origin of the name 'Wills Neck' is unknown. Local legend supplies tales where hard fact is missing, and has it that 'Wills' is from the Saxon word Wealas for 'strangers', 'foreigners' or 'Welshmen',[1] and the local legend extends to assert that the Britons fought the Romans at the site.[2]
On a clear day from the summit it is possible to see Dartmoor, Exmoor, the Brecon Beacons, the Mendips and Blackdown Hills.[3] It is sometimes even possible to see Pilsdon Pen, the second highest point in Dorset, and even that shire's highest point, Lewesdon Hill.
Geology and surveys
The hill is formed from Hangman Grits laid down during the Devonian a geologic period of the Paleozoic Era spanning from the end of the Silurian Period, about 420 million years ago, to the beginning of the Carboniferous Period.[4]
Wills Neck was surveyed by schoolboys from Clifton College from 1922 and 1945, led by teacher William Cornish Badcock. They built a cairn at the highest point which has now been replaced, on exactly the same spot, by a modern trig point.[5]
Miscellany
A long distance footpath, the Macmillan Way West, runs over the summit, following the ridge of the Quantocks, and is met on the slopes of the hill by the West Deane Way.
A beer brewed by the Quantock Brewery has been named Wills Neck after the hill.[6]
References
- ↑ "The Quantock Hills". OpenCastMind. http://www.gb42.com/hills.html. Retrieved 23 March 2014.
- ↑ "Ancient and Beautiful Hills — The Quantocks". Somerset Life. http://www.somerset-life.co.uk/out-about/walks/ancient_and_beautiful_hills_the_quantocks_1_1645031. Retrieved 23 March 2014.
- ↑ Roberts, James (1997). Walking in Somerset. Cicerone Press. p. 57. ISBN 9781852842536. https://books.google.com/books?id=IhLY0WZUtRsC&pg=PA55&lpg=PA55&dq=Wills+Neck+Quantocks&source=bl&ots=ZIDT6Ulojy&sig=Tk0b6tRyqFGgvA0KerGLPa78pEg&hl=en&sa=X&ei=x8guU7mAHJKVhQefkYCQBQ&ved=0CGYQ6AEwBjgK#v=onepage&q=Wills%20Neck%20Quantocks&f=false.
- ↑ Waite, Vincent (1969). Portrait of the Quantocks. Robert Hale. pp. 16–17. ISBN 0709111584.
- ↑ Byford, Enid (1987). Somerset Curiosities. Dovecote Press. p. 31. ISBN 0946159483. https://archive.org/details/somersetcuriosit0000byfo/page/31.
- ↑ "Wills Neck Bottle Case". Quantock Brewery. http://quantockbrewery.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=54. Retrieved 23 March 2014.