Brean Down
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| Brean Down | |
|---|---|
 Brean Down from Steep Holm |
|
| Elevation | 97 m (318 ft) |
| Location | Mendip Hills, England |
| Prominence | 91 m |
| Topo map | OS Landranger ?? |
| OS grid reference | ST284590 |
Brean Down is a promontory off the coast of North Somerset standing 320 feet high and extending 1½ miles into the Bristol Channel between Weston-super-Mare and Burnham on Sea.
Made of carboniferous limestone, it is a continuation of the Mendip Hills, and two further continuations are the small islands of Steep Holm and Flat Holm.
There is evidence of a pagan shrine at Brean Down dating from pre-Roman times[1] which was re-established as a Romano-Celtic style temple in the mid-4th century and probably succeeded by a small late-4th century Christian oratory[2]. There is also evidence of an Iron age hill fort and prehistoric barrows and field systems.[3]
It is now owned by the National Trust, and is rich in wildlife, history and archaeology. It is a Site of Special Scientific Interest. There are steep cliffs and, at its seaward point, a Brean Down Fort built in 1865 and then re-armed in the Second World War.
[edit] References
- ^ Dunning, Robert (1983). A History of Somerset. Chichester: Phillimore & Co. ISBN 0-85033-461-6.
- ^ Aston, Mick; Burrow, Ian (1982). The Archaeology of Somerset. Taunton: Somerset County Council.
- ^ Adkins, Lesley and Roy (1992). A field Guide to Somerset Archeology. Stanbridge: Dovecote press. ISBN 0946159947.
[edit] External links
Summarised data for all sites (biological and geological)
SSSIs: Aller and Beer Woods | Aller Hill | Asham Wood | Axbridge Hill and Fry's Hill | Babcary Meadows | Barle Valley | Barrington Hill Meadows | Berrow Dunes | Black Down and Sampford Commons | Brean Down | Bridgwater Bay | Briggins Moor | Catcott, Edington and Chilton Moors | Chancellor's Farm | Cheddar Complex | Cheddar Reservoir | Cheddar Wood | Cleeve Hill | Cogley Wood | Crook Peak to Shute Shelve Hill | Curry and Hay Moors | Deadman | Draycott Sleights | Dunster Park and Heathlands | East Polden Grasslands | Ebbor Gorge | Edford Woods and Meadows | Exmoor Coastal Heaths | Fivehead Woods and Meadow | Freshmoor | Friar's Oven | Ge-mare Farm Fields | Great Breach and Copley Woods | Grove Farm | Hardington Moor | Hestercombe House | Holme Moor & Clean Moor | King's Sedgemoor | Kingdown and Middledown | Kingweston Meadows | Lang's Farm | Langford Heathfield | Langmead and Weston Level | Long Lye | Long Lye Meadow | Longleat Woods | Millwater | Moorlinch | Nettlecombe Park | North Brewham Meadows | North Curry Meadow | North Exmoor | North Moor | Old Ironstone Works, Mells | Perch | Porlock Ridge and Saltmarsh | Postlebury Wood | Priddy Pools | Prior's Park & Adcombe Wood | Quantocks | Quants | Ringdown | River Barle | Rodney Stoke | Roebuck Meadows | Ruttersleigh | Severn Estuary | Shapwick Heath | Sharpham Moor Plot | South Exmoor | Southey and Gotleigh Moors | Southlake Moor | Sparkford Wood | St. Dunstan's Well Catchment | Stowell Meadow | Street Heath | Tealham and Tadham Moors | Thurlbear Wood and Quarrylands | Twinhills Woods and Meadows | Vallis Vale | Walton and Ivythorn Hills | West Moor | West Sedgemoor | Westhay Heath | Westhay Moor | Wet Moor | Whitevine Meadows | Windsor Hill Marsh | Wookey Hole | Woolhayes Farm
