Midsummer Hill
| Midsummer Hill | |||
| Herefordshire, Worcestershire | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Midsummer Hill from Ragged Stone Hill | |||
| Range: | Malvern Hills | ||
| Summit: | 932 feet SO760375 52°2’7"N, 2°21’5"W | ||
Midsummer Hill is situated in the range of Malvern Hills that runs approximately eight miles north-south along the Herefordshire-Worcestershire border. It lies to the south of Herefordshire Beacon with views to Eastnor Castle.[1] It reaches a height of 932 feet.
The hill is the site of an Iron Age hill fort which spans Midsummer Hill and Hollybush Hill. The hillfort is protected as a Scheduled Ancient Monument and is owned by Natural England. It can be accessed by way of a footpath which leads south from the car park at British Camp on the A449 or a footpath which heads north from the car park in Hollybush on the A438.[2]
Midsummer Hill Camp
The hillfort commands the height, its ramparts sweeping across the hilltop. It is very unusual in that the ramparts enclose two hills and the intervening valley. Bowden speculates that the spring within the valley "enhance[s] the position of the hillfort as a site of symbolic value".[3]
_Hollybush_Hill,_Malvern_Hills_-_geograph.org.uk_-_3243.jpg)
The rampart and ditch were built around 390 BC and it is thought that the settlement was occupied by some 1,500 souls until it was destroyed by fire in AD 48; when the Romans came.[2]
Outside links
References
Books
- Bowden, Mark; Field, David; Winton, Helen (2005). The Malvern Hills: an ancient landscape. English Heritage. ISBN 1873592825.
- Children, George; Nash, George (1994). Prehistoric Sites of Herefordshire. Logaston Press. ISBN 1873827091.
- Smart, Mike (2009). Malvern Hills. Frances Lincoln ltd. pp. 15. ISBN 0711229155.