Bell Hill, Dorset

At 258 metres, Bell Hill is one of the highest hills in the county of Dorset, England and a high point on the Wessex Ridgeway.

Bell Hill
View from Bell Hill looking down Bell Hill Rd towards the Blackmore Vale
Highest point
Elevation258 m (846 ft)[1]
Prominence50 m (160 ft)[1]
Parent peakLewesdon Hill [1]
Listing
Coordinates50°52′25″N 2°17′10″W
Geography
LocationDorset, England
Parent rangeDorset Downs
OS gridST800082
Topo mapOS Landranger 194
The River Stour with Shillingstone Hill, an eastern spur of Bell Hill, in the background

Location

Bell Hill lies about 5 miles west of Blandford Forum. The village of Ibberton nestles against its southwestern foot, whilst a little further to the northeast, below Okeford Hill on the same ridgeline, is the village of Okeford Fitzpaine.[2]

The summit itself lies on a ridge running from northeast to southwest. To the northwest its escarpment drops steeply in to the Blackmore Vale and Stour Valley, whilst to the southeast the woods of Turnworth Clump and Ringmoor are bracketed by two more ridges, Ibberton Long Down and Turnworth Down, forming a horseshoe with Bell Hill. Another spur runs east from Turnworth Down to Shillingstone Hill, site of a quarry and a popular cross-country race. A trig point on the Wessex Ridgeway marks this subsidiary summit.[2]

History

There is evidence of prehistoric settlement, with a tumulus (a bowl barrow[3]) 500 metres southwest of the summit, a cross dyke beyond it and a settlement and field system in the area of the Ringmoor plantation. Ringmoor is a National Trust property. A disused pit at the foot of the escarpment indicates earlier quarrying activity.[2]

The villages of Belchalwell in the vale a mile to the northwest, and Belchalwell Street at the foot of the scarp, took their names from the original names of the two settlements, Bell and Chaldwell. Bell, now Belchalwell, was named after Bell Hill, and Chaldwell became Belchalwell Street.[4]

Sport

Bell Hill is a designated paragliding site.[5]

References

  1. Summit Listings by Relative Height by Jonathan de Ferranti. Accessed on 27 March 2013.
  2. Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 Landranger series, no. 194
  3. Historic England. "Cross Dyke and Bowl Barrow on Bell Hill 690m North East of Baker's Folly (1016686)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 24 June 2017.
  4. The Dorset Walk – Woolland, Belchalwell and Ibberton at www.dorsetlife.co.uk. Accessed on 27 March 2013.
  5. Bell Hill at www.paraglidingearth.com. Accessed on 27 March 2013.
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